The Skulkin Gang and the Elemental Tasers (The Pilot Season Rewritten)
by Steampunk Wilson
Summary: Ninjago city is ripe with crime and plagued with a ferocious gang war, between the Skulkins and the mysterious 'Elemental Force'. When Kai's sister is kidnapped by the Skulkin Gang, he will do anything to get her back, including teaming up with the Elemental Force, and he discovers crazy secrets from his past which could explain where his parents have been all these years.
1. Chapter 1

**We all know the plot of the pilot season, but I've hidden a few little surprises along the way :)**

 **Obvious language and violence warning.**

"Look, I'll have the rent when I get my paycheck, OK?" Fifteen year old Kai Smith glared at his landlord with his angry brown eyes. The tall, fat man glared back.

"You've been living here with your sister for nine years, you little runt." He growled. "Ever since your parents abandoned you-"

"They did NOT!" Kai snapped. He was always short tempered, but when faced with the man he hated more than anyone else, he always came close to losing it.

"Oh yeah?" The landlord (whose name was Nelson) grinned slyly. "So where are they now then, buying a pack of cigarettes?" Kai scowled, because he knew that Nelson was right. "That's the excuse my dad made before he ditched us, only difference here is, you've got someone kind enough to look after you." He smiled a disgusting smile filled with disgusting teeth.

"Look after me!" Kai spluttered. "You had me sweeping chimneys 'till I was nine!"

"Everyone in this world's gotta work for rent." Nelson said. "You just got too big to fit up there." Kai scowled again, and Nelson bent down slightly to match the teenager's height.

"Look Kay-"

"Kai!"

"Whatever, I've been letting you live here since you were six, well outside of the law, by the way, on minimal rent." Nelson snapped. "But if you don't give me that money by lunch time tomorrow, I'm kicking you and your sister out onto the street, got it?"

"But-"

"No buts!" Nelson straightened up. "Now SCRAM!"

Kai scowled and turned, marching down the dingy corridor of the apartment block, muttering obscenities about his landlord as he went. When he turned the corner, he lashed out and kicked the wall as hard as he could. A small crack appeared, further proof of the building's poor quality. The wallpaper was peeling, the lift hadn't worked in years and the building was filled with convicts and criminals, sometimes Kai could hear the screams of poor unfortunate women through the wall. It was definitely not a place for two youngsters to be growing up.

"Kai?" Came a call as Kai opened the door, and saw his recently turned fourteen sister crouching over the little gas stove in the middle of the room, her back to him.

"Yeah." He sighed, placing the few groceries on the floor and coming over to her.

"I can't get the bloody stove lit." Nya sighed, handing Kai the matches. He took them and lit a match at once, lighting the little blue flames and standing back.

"Thanks. You have a way with fire." Nya smiled and held her hands towards the gas fire to warm them. It was almost winter, and the apartment was often freezing at this tie of year. Nya nearly always caught a cold, which made Kai worried sick. He had always been caring over his little sister. Ever since their parents disappeared when he had been six, he had made many sacrifices for the pair of them, working hard so there was enough money for her to eat, often giving her his own share of food, though she hardly ever accepted. When Kai had grown too big to sweep Nelson's chimneys, he had found a job at Blacksmither's & Co, the big iron works in town. Originally, he had been running around after everyone else, picking things up for them and the like, but now he was muscular enough to help out with the actual work. It was tiring and back-breaking work, but it paid enough to get by on.

"What did you get?" Nya asked, and Kai picked up his groceries.

"The usual." He sighed. "Bread, some chicken, we'll need to cook that before it goes off, apples and..." With a grin, he unwrapped a little parcel and showed it to her.

"Oh My God, you didn't!" She gasped. Kai nodded, and Nya squealed in joy, clapping her hands. "Cake, Kai, how..."

"I got a payrise." Kai lied, still smiling. He always tried to hide harsh truths from Nya, like Nelson's constant demand for rent that Kai couldn't pay, and the fact that some guy at work had thrown away his lunch in disgust, because his wife hadn't buttered his sandwich. Kai had wanted to take the sandwich and crisps home to share with Nya, but he hadn't eaten in over twenty four hours, and had eaten it all before thinking straight. He had saved the cake though, he knew how they both loved cake.

"Come one, we'll have toast and cake." Kai said with a smile, tucking the precious little package into his pocket. "Come one, I'll get toasting forks."

Half an hour later, Kai watched Nya finish up her toast with a smile. Food took forever to cook over a gas stove, and they always ate slowly, but no matter how long they made one piece of toast last, they always finished meals with growling stomachs.

"Come on." Kai said quickly. "Cake time!" He reached into his pocket. Nya grinned widely, and Kai couldn't help but grin back. He loved seeing Nya happy, her round face framed with her shoulder length black hair, and her bright green eyes. She was so pretty, looked a lot like their mother. Kai had inherited brown hair from somewhere, though it was spikey like his fathers. He always made it stick up as much as he could, so he looked like his father. He wasn't sure why, Nelson was right, his parents must have walked out on them. Where else would they be?

"Kai, are you OK?" Nya asked, her brow furrowing. Kai suddenly realised a tear had fallen from his eye and he quickly wiped his face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine!" He said quickly, but Nya was no fool.

"Come here." She said with a smile, and pulled her brother into a hug. "Life is tough now, but we'll make it through, I promise."

Kai smiled. "Of course we will." He said, ducking away from his sister. "This is a nice thick slice, that's at least half an inch each!"

"Awesome!" Nya exclaimed. "You're the best brother in the world!"

"No I'm not." Kai sighed. "If I were, would we be living in this dump?"

"Hey, you're not a superhero." Nya told him. "But even if this super fit guy who could fly and sneezed money offered to take me away to a mansion paradise, I'd choose to stay here with you."

"I'd force you to go with him." Kai told her. "But no man deserves someone as special as you."

The siblings smiled at each other, and Kai broke the cake in half.

"Did you hear that?" Nya suddenly asked, and Kai frowned, listening. There were shouts coming from downstairs, and, was he mistaken? Motorbike engines?

"What the heck?" Kai muttered, going over to the window. His mouth fell open when he saw what was going on outside.


	2. Samukai

**Yeah, it took ages because I'm working mornings all this week :(**

"What is it?" Nya asked anxiously. Kai squinted down into the dark.

"Nelson, the landlord asshole, he's getting confronted by some dudes on motorbikes, boy do they all look mad!" He grinned.

"Should we go help him?" Nya asked.

"Of course not!. The idiot seems to be getting what he deserves and- Oh My God!" Kai stumbled back from the window.

"What? What is it?" Nya gasped.

"They just shot him!" Kai exclaimed. He took another peep out of the window. "Oh My God, he's dead, he's on the ground!" Despite his hatred for Nelson, Kai was visibly panicked.

"Are you sure he's dead?" Nya asked anxiously. Kai nodded.

"Yeah, definitely. It's through the head, he" Kai ducked hard, almost smacking his chin on the window ledge.

"What is it?" Nya squealed, panicking a little also.

"The guy who shot him, just looked up, he saw me, I'm sure of it!" Kai gasped. Then he realised how scared Nya was, and took a deep breath to calm himself. "It's probably nothing, he just looked at the building in general. Probably nicking the property."

"Are you sure?" Nya asked. Kai nodded.

"Yeah, a new landlord, nothing more." He told her comfortingly. "He might even be a lot nicer." Nya visibly relaxed.

"Come on." Kai said. "Let's see about that cake." He made to pick it up, but froze as he heard the motorbike engines again, but, was it his imagination, were they closer?

"Hear that?" Kai asked with a smile. "They're leaving." But the pair jumped as they heard the sound of breaking from downstairs.

"Shit!" Nya gasped, and Kai couldn't lie to her anymore, it was clear the motorbikers had entered the building.

"We need to get out of here." Kai said, going towards the door.

"Can't we hide and call the police or something?" Nya asked.

"On what? Come on!" Nya got to her feet. Kai reached for the door handle, but froze as he heard the engines of the bikes entering the second floor, their corridor.

"Hide, quick!" He hissed to Nya, who dived under the bed. Kai made to join her, but before he had taken two steps, the door burst open.

"Well, look what we have here!" A man exclaimed, sitting astride a shiny black motorcycle. There were at least three more riders sat on similar bikes behind him, holding iron bats, knives or even worse, guns.

"Please, take anything you want, just leave us alone!" Kai gasped.

"Us?" The man sneered. "So there's someone else here, hiding?"

"NO! I just. I have poor grammar, I say us instead of me, OK?" Kai said desperately. He didn't care what happened to himself as long as Nya was safe.

"We're not here to take your apples, boy!" The man snarled, and the motorcycles veered forwards into the apartment, almost running Kai over. "Nah, we're here for something much more precious." He grinned nastily. "He's all yours, Samukai!"

Kai hadn't noticed a fourth figure standing in the doorway, but now he gasped as the man made his way towards him. The men on the bikes were all pale and scarred, and reasonably similar looking, but this man made Kai want to break down and give up. He was too, pale, bald and there were a few scars on his face and limbs and he had numerous facial piercings. He was immensely tall and muscular, dressed in a torn sleeve leather jacket and tattoos all up his arms, showing grossly disfigured humans. Kai shuddered. The man wielded a dagger in each hand.

"Where are your parents, kid?" The man, or Samukai, as Kai assumed he was called, stepped forward.

"Errr they're buying cigarettes." Kai said quickly, for some reason, remembering Nelson's story.

"Really now? Both of them? You sure about that son?" Samukai grinned a maniacal grin. He suddenly dropped it and in one quick stride forwards, he grabbed Kai by the shirt collar and lifted him clean off the ground. Kai gave a yelp of surprise.

"OK, OK, I don't know! They walked out on us when I was little, OK?" Kai gasped.

"Kid, I don't give a damn where your parents are." Samukai snarled. "They're probably dead by now-"

"Wait, what do you know about my parents?" Kai gasped, but Samukai slapped him around the face. He gave a cry of pain, boy that was going to bruise in the morning!

"Shut up!" Samukai snarled. "Tell me boy, where are the Elemental Tasers?"

"The what?" Kai's whole face stung, and he was so worried that Nya wouldn't stay hidden that he couldn't focus."

"The Elemental Tasers, idiot!" Samukai snapped. "I know you have them!"

"Honestly, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Kai protested. "Please, just put me down."

"Hmm." Samukai muttered, and he dropped Kai to the concrete floor. Kai cursed as he landed hard on his knees, but Samukai barely noticed. "So, he doesn't know, which means..." He frowned. "Search the flat! The map must be here instead!"

"No!" Kai gasped, terrified that the men would find Nya. He tried to get up, but felt a burning pain through his left bicep all of a sudden. He realised he had been shot.

"Kai!" Came a scream, and Nya rolled out from under the bed.

"So you lied!" Samukai exclaimed, and kicked Kai in the stomach. The teenager doubled over. "Get the girl!"

"Get away from my brother, assholes!" Nya screamed, and grabbed the bed. It was a flimsy thing, built out of iron with a thin mattress, and had been slept on by both Smith siblings every night. Nya lifted it off the ground easily, and hurled it at the advancing men. She ran to Kai.

"Nya, run!" Kai gasped, getting to his feet.

"Not without you!" Nya protested. Kai tried to push her towards the door, but she was suddenly seized from behind by Samukai and lifted off her feet.

"NYA!" Kai cried. She screamed and tried to fight the huge man off, but he was too strong, all the others were advancing towards Kai, he was injured...

"Well, what's going on here then?" Came a voice, and Kai looked up to see an old man leaning in the doorway.


	3. A Mother's Locket

**Yeah, I've got a lot of reviews very quick, so thank you all a lot! I've seen this done a few times before, so I'm going to do it in this story from now on :)**

 **QueenoftheJordan: Hey, glad you like it! :) Yeah, I'm glad they shot him too, he was an a******. Wait no longer, for you shall find out what happens next... right now! :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Hey, I remember you from DarkFlight! Nice to see you again :) Yeah, I didn't think it was worth waiting around for a bit of action, it is the pilot season after all, though mine is going to be waaayyy longer!**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Hi again! I'm glad to read your reviews again, I got this big smile when I saw your username :). Yeah, I like Kai's role as big brother, and because of their parenting situation, I made him extra overprotective. I'm sure we can all guess who this old man in the doorway is...! :)**

 **TheNinjaOfArt: Had to run your review through Google Translate, and I got the general gist. What language is that, Spanish? Yeah, I do like to add in a little suspense to my work :) And I write a lot, so writing in my own time isn't hard (sorry if I didn't get the gist right)**

 **Cerenda: I was so happy to see your reviews, as you know, I love Possession Rewritten! Yeah, I'm a dark writer, so it will be darker than the PG episodes we got. :) I'm surprised about Nelson being a favourite (unless it's sarcasm?), though I based him off Nelson Muntz from The Simpsons, so you can feel sorry for him in that sense. Yeah, bikers and guns are a bit more intimidating, a scary gang opponent. As for Elemental Force, can't you guess?**

 **Yeah, I like the feel of this story, it's going to be exciting!**

Kai stared. This day was getting more crazy by he second, as he clutched his already bloodsoaken arm and gazed at the new arrival in surprise.

The man wasn't as old as he had originally thought, perhaps in his sixties. He had white facial hair, and was surprisingly muscly, and his eyes were dark and mysterious under his black cap. He wore a plain white jacket with a strange red symbol on the front, perhaps a dragon, the flat was far too dark and dingy to make it out.

"Samukai, put the girl down, there's a good man, she's got no place in this." The man said, frowning. Samukai scowled.

"Wu!" He snarled. "I should have known you'd show up!"

"Samukai." The old man stated. "I should have know you'd be out and about terrorising children." Kai tried to protest, say that they weren't children, but he was in too much pain, and was trying to apply pressure to his arm.

"Oh, don't you know?" Samukai sneered. "Haven't you realised where we are, old man." He pointed at Kai while holding Nya with one hand. "He's Ray and Maya's boy, and this" He gestured towards Nya with his head. "They must have decided one wasn't enough!"

"Kai, help!" Nya gasped to her brother while the men were distracted. "What's he talking about."

Kai felt sick.

"Mum and dad." He groaned.

"I know full well who they are, Skulkin." Wu said sternly. "Now put the girl down, she needs to help the boy."

"Make me!" Snarled Samukai.

For a moment, Wu was motionless. Then he attacked.

Though he was well past his prime, it was like watching a sumo wrestler attack the gang. Wu charged towards Samukai, let the man swing a fist towards him, then nimbly dodged round him and, from somewhere, produces a long iron stick, which he clubbed the other man round the head with. Samukai stumbled forwards, dropping Nya to the ground.

"Kai. KAI! Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, you?" Kai asked, as Nya made to touch his wound. "Argh, don't!"

"Sorry!" Nya gasped. "Can you stand?"

Kai nodded, and they got to their feet. The siblings began to make their way towards the door, but a conversation between the old man and the gang made him stop for a moment.

"You came for the Tasers, didn't you?" Wu snarled, dodging a gunshot, and clubbing a second man round the head with his iron bar. "Well you're out of luck, my friends. They're not here."

"Our leader thought as much." One man snarled back, and he seized Wu from behind and kicked him hard in the back of the leg. "We came for the map."

Wu span round in the man's grasp and head-butted him, hard, so he stumbled back. Now it was one against one, but Samukai had recovered and got back to his feet.

"We know Ray and Maya his the map here!" The remaining man exclaimed. "So-"

"Shut UP, you idiot!" Samukai snapped. "Don't you know who this is, Wu of Elemental Force!" The man gasped and took a step back. Wu grinned.

"I see your leader has you well informed," He charged to the man and planted a series of attacks, leaving him bruised on the ground twenty seconds later. Samukai watched with interest. "But did he tell you that Ray and Maya would have never hidden the map somewhere so obvious?"

"On the contrary..." Samukai stepped forwards, daggers in hand. "You know our leader is a clever man, would we be here if that statement were true?" Wu braced himself for attack, but Samukai turned to Kai and Nya. Kai cursed himself for not leaving when they had the chance.

"Look, we don't know anything!" Kai exclaimed. "We've never heard of the Elemental Tasers, we don't have a map and we have no business in your stupid gang war!" Kai knew who these people were now, of course. He had heard of the two gangs, fighting for grip on the criminal underworld of the city, Samukai belonged to the Skulkin and Wu belonged to Elemental Force.

"Oh you have business plenty." Samukai said with a grin. "You, girl, do you have anything of your parent's that you never sold?"

"No." Kai spat, but Nya seemed to be shifting uncomfortably. "Nya?"

"I'm sorry Kai!" Nya blurted. "But I had to keep it, I..." Face going red in shame, she brought out a beautiful silver locket, engraved with patterns of the waves of the sea and flames of fire. It would make enough money to keep them fed for more than three months.

"NYA!" Kai exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me, that could have let us save up MONTHS worth of money!"

"I'm sorry Kai." Nya whispered. "But it' mum's, it's all I've got left of her!"

"Our mum WALKED OUT ON US!" Kai shouted. He was hurt, tired and angry, he was losing his temper fast. "SHE'S NOT WORTH REMEMBERING!"

"Easy for you to say!" Nya snapped back. "You remember them, I was too young, I want something to hold onto!"

"I remember waking up one day and they were gone!" Kai snapped. "They left us Nya, in this dump with that bastard landlord who had me sweeping chimneys for three years so you could hang onto the rent money!" Nya gasped, and a tear slid down her face.

"I'm sorry Kai." She whispered, but in one swift movement, Samukai darted forwards and plucked the locket from her fingers. Kai and Nya jumped, they had quite forgotten the men were there.

"No!" Nya tried to protest, but Kai held onto her arm.

"Forget it, he'll leave if he can have it!"

"No." Wu said sternly, stepping forwards, clutching his iron stick. "I shall not let you leave with the map."

Samukai was fiddling with the locket, attempting to pry it open.

"Damn it, it needs a combination key!" He exclaimed in frustration. He turned to the children with evil eyes.

"We already told you, WE DON'T KNOW!" Kai shouted. "Get out!"

Samukai frowned. "Take the girl." He said. "She'll be good leverage."

"NO!" Kai screamed, moving to protect his sister, and Wu advanced to protect them also, but Samukai darted towards the old man to engage him in a fight. The Skulkin men (who had gradually recovered) advanced on Kai and his sister. Kai raised his fists, but his arm had been bleeding all this time, soaking his sleeve and weakening him my the millilitre. He was in no position to fight. Within seconds, he had been pushed aside and Nya had been grabbed and flung over a man's shoulder. They quickly went to their motorbikes.

"NO!" Kai screamed, and stumbled forwards, there was a roaring in his ears, his vision was foggy. He numbly fell to his knees and saw Nya be hit over the head by a bat. She went limp and there was a roaring of engines as the bikes sped past.

And then they were gone. Samukai kicked Wu hard in the stomach, then shot a nasty look at Kai, before following his fellow gang-members.

And then he was gone.

Kai was already on his knees, and now the realisation sank in. Nya was gone. His landlord was dead. The cake had been stepped on and squashed.

Wu picked himself up. He was bleeding from a cut down his face; he touched it with his fingers gently and winced.

"She's gone." Kai stated in a monotone.

"Yes, for now." Wu told him frowning and examining the walls.

"What do you mean 'for now'?!" Kai snapped, whirling round in a great flare of anger. "My sister is GONE and I'll never see her again!" He got up and punched the wall as hard as he could with his bad arm. True, this wasn't very hard, but it sent a great flare of pain all the way up to his shoulder.

"Kai, don't." Wu said, coming towards him. "Your sister is not gone forever."

"Prove it, you useless old bugger!" Kai screamed. He knew everyone in the building would have been hearing the battle and were listening to his screams now, but he knew from experience what they'd be thinking. Oh well, at least it's not me. "I know she's-" He suddenly stopped. "How did you know my name?"

"When I heard you sister's it became obvious the pair of you were named after the Kai and the Nya, ancient twin blades of battle, a favourite of your parents."

"Me and Nya aren't twins." Kai didn't bother asking how the old man knew his parent's weapon choices. He was tired and ill and upset.

"Kai, I may have a way for you to rescue your sister." Wu told him, still examining the walls. "It is risky for you, but- ah, here we go." He peeled aside a large poster which covered a crack in the wall. He looked on the back of it, something Kai had never done before. His parents had stuck it there before he'd even been born.

He smiled and rolled up the poster, tucking it under his arm. "I should have known they kept a copy." He muttered. "Yes Kai, there is a way fro you to rescue Nya. But it requires something your parents never would have wanted."

"Lay it on me."

"You have to join Elemental Force." Kai's mouth dropped open.

"No WAY!" He gasped. "The lot of you are all criminals, no matter if you do hate Skulkin!" He scowled. "And how do you know so much about my parents?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Wu said with a smile. "Your parents were part of Elemental Force, Kai. Before you were born."

Kai's mouth fell open again and he fell to his knees once more. His parents, part of a criminal gang?

For some reason, he didn't question it. He got to his feet and began to head out the door.

"Where are you going?" Wu asked, leaning on his iron stick.

"I'm going to get Nya back." Kai said stoutly, stumbling towards the door. If only the damned pain in his arm would let up for one second!

"You can barely walk, I can hardly see you taking on the entire Skulkin gang."

"I can walk fine." Kai muttered angrily. "And I'll take on as many as I have to if it means getting my sister back!"

"Ha!" Wu exclaimed. "You're not even ready to take on my pinkie toe and you know it!"

"Want... a bet?" Kai murmured as he felt himself slide to the floor. He slumped on the ground, unconscious at last.

 **Yeah, that was kind of long and took ages to come out. Sorry.**


	4. Video Game

**Hey fans and followers of my small writing works :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: I shall be taking a different turn on Kai's training here, so you can be excited :) Yep, I thought I should turn Wu's staff into a somewhat deadlier weapon, to fit in with this story's 'darker' theme.**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Haha, that made me laugh! :) I'm so glad some people like this, aww thanks :)**

 **QueenoftheJordan: Not to brag, but I agree :)**

 **Cerenda: I guessed :). Yeah, I decided to update Wu, he's quite a bit younger, and seems to be based off... old Han Solo? I swear the image in my head matches something! My updating schedule is more regular than most writers, I don't know why, I'm just really fast at writing for some reason, but I do try to slow the updates down as the end nears.**

 **Wow, I've never gotten this many reviews this early on in a story, let me know what you think of this one :)**

His head burned, then it spread to his shoulder, and then everywhere. He groaned, and tried to open his eyes, but his lids were too heavy. Come on Kai, he muttered inside his head. You need to get up, you have to work, to feed Nya. She's everything to you.

She's gone.

His eyes somehow became wet enough for him to slide them open. Everything was blurry, but he could make out a face at the corner of his vision, so quickly blinked the tears away and the room became more focused.

It wasn't a room he remembered.

"Huh?" Kai moaned as he turned his head and took in his surroundings. He was in a wooden room, lying in an immensely comfy bed, comfier than he'd ever been in his life, the pillow supporting the back of his neck perfectly, barely any pain now that he was awake. Better than every morning he had ever woken up to...

Nya.

"Nya?" Kai cried suddenly. "NYA!"

"Calm down Kai, you'll do yourself further injury." Came a calm voice. Kai turned to see Wu sitting by his bedside, the old man frowning down at the teenager. A large, long plaster covered the cut on his face. Kai scrambled away as much as he could. He almost fell out of the bed, but there was more room there than he'd realised. It was a big bed, bigger than he had ever experienced. Nevertheless, he wanted to get as far away from Wu as he could.

"You!" He exclaimed. "This is your fault, you bastard!"

"Calm down!" Wu exclaimed. "I showed up in time to save your ass."

"You didn't save her, though, did you!" Kai snapped. "I would have gone instead, I would have..." Kai realised. "I would have died instead."

"Now, now, your sister is not dead." Wu told him. "But the Skulkins are deadly, she does need rescue sometime soon, at least they'll be able to bust that locket open, and that'll keep their leader happy, at least, if the map's in there." He frowned.

"Map? Map to what?" Kai demanded. "You and the Skulkins keep going on about that bloody map, but not whatever the hell it's for!"

"Well, that is tightly sealed information." Wu said, sitting back, and Kai (trying not to be noticed doing so) edged a little away from the edge of the bed. "Unfortunately, it's not in the radar for the public to know."

"What!" Kai exclaimed, feeling like kicking the wall, or Wu, preferably Wu.

"Well, unless you join Elemental Force, that is." Wu told him. "Me showing up in your apartment was not coincidence, Kai. I was there... in search of you."

"Me!" Kai exclaimed. "What, how, what's so special about me?"

"Elemental Force's leader has put me in charge of recruiting fresh members, from, should we say, agreeable heritage. As I told you, your parents used to be in Elemental Force, but left after they found out that they were pregnant with you. We let them go, we're not total barbarians."

"Yeah." Kai muttered. "Totally." Wu shot him a look and he shut up.

"I came in hope of recruiting you and your sister, well, I didn't know she existed at that point, but for now, I only have you."

"Forget it." Kai spat. "I'm getting Nya back, my way." He attempted to swing his legs out of the bed, but was suddenly struck by a sudden bout of dizziness that he stopped and groaned.

"And what way would that be?" Wu asked in amusement. Kai growled, but he was too weary to think straight.

"Face it, Kai, there isn't another way to rescue Nya safely. And after she is saved, you needn't stay with Elemental Force, you can go back to... do you even call it a home? With your sister."

Kai scowled, but he knew Wu was right. He wouldn't get very far on his own.

"I just don't want to join up with a bunch of total criminals." He admitted.

"It's not like you live very legally." Wu said. "But there is a... large financial reward, should I say?" Kai gasped. That money could sort out his financial situation, he could get a real job, move to a nice place. Nya could go to school. But Kai didn't really want to seem so desperate for money in front of this man.

"Fine." He said grudgingly. "I bet I'll be the youngest there, though." Just like work, he thought.

"On the contrary, you shall be the... second oldest? Yes, second oldest out of our new recruits." Kai couldn't help but snort.

"They sent you out to recruit criminal gang members and you come back with a bunch of kids!"

"As I said, all of you have had heritage with Elemental Force. But most left after the Chen event..." He trailed off for a minute, then shook his head, collecting himself. "Your parents were a particular asset to the gang, I would urge them to look up to you." Wu told him, standing up. "I fixed up your arm, but I wouldn't take it out of that sling for a while." Kai looked down at his arm in a sling he hadn't noticed before.

"Hey, who took my shirt?"

"It was covered in blood, I washed it, it's over there." Wu pointed. He went to the door. "I'll give you ten minutes to get sorted, then I'll take you to meet the others."

He left, leaving Kai with a stomach filled with gloom and dread.

...

Kai opened the door to find Wu waiting on the other side.

"Good, you're punctual. Come this way." He turned and marched off down a long corridor, and Kai (wondering if it had really taken him ten minutes to put on a shirt and wipe his eyes) followed.

"What is this place?" Kai asked, looking around the long, wooden corridor they were walking down. "Some kind of headquarters?"

"The official Elemental Force headquarters is in the city, where we are currently not." Wu told him. Kai gasped. This was his first time out of the city, and he hadn't even realised!

"So, where are we?" He asked.

"An abandoned old pirate ship somewhere out in the desert." Wu said, stopping outside a wooden door, from which strange noises were coming. "It's sort of my personal headquarters, I fixed it up with electrics, it's quite homely now, and hard to find, may I add." Kai tried to ask something else, but Wu held up a hand. "Behind this door are your future teammates, who know about your arrival, but not your situation or sister. I should urge you all to be polite to one another."

"Whatever." Kai muttered, and Wu opened the door.

It was a rather small room, but noisy and filled with life. There was a battered green sofa along the wall with the door, opposite a large TV which was streaming a noisy, two player video game. There was a small coffee table in front of the sofa, and three teenage boys.

Kai looked at his future teammates for the first time. One was sat on the sofa, reading a small, leather bound book, oblivious to Kai, Wu and the noise from the video game and other boys. They were sat clutching controllers, right in front of the screen, shouting and calling out in delight.

"Yes, DIE you snake filth!"

"No, Jay, come back, don't... ARGH!"

"Goddammit!"

"You're on fire, what-" The boy speaking suddenly noticed Wu and Kai in the doorway and cleared his throat. The boy reading put down his book and looked over immediately and noticed Wu and Kai. But the other boy at the video game didn't notice a thing.

"YES, Cole, look, I can still shoot, Cole, what-" He looked round and hit pause the moment he saw Wu and Kai. "Erm, hello Wu. This the new guy then?"

"Yes." Wu said, and the three boys came over, giving Kai a chance to look at them properly. The one who had noticed Wu first seemed threatening for a teenager, with long, thick black hair and dark eyes. He was very tall and muscular, and outshone Kai in that category with ease. Kai didn't even want to look him in the eyes, so made his own eyes wander to the other game player, who was shifting from foot to foot. He was shorter than Kai, and far skinnier, with a shock of bright auburn hair and a lazy grin. His eyes sparkled and he smiled at Kai. Kai didn't smile back, and looked at the third boy, the one who had been reading. He was also skinny, but slightly taller than Kai, with mousy blonde, combed hair. He gave Kai a small smile. Kai looked at the floor.

"Cole, Jay, Zane, this is Kai." Wu said, and attempted to place a hand on Kai's shoulder, but the teenager ducked away, so Wu put his hand behind his back instead. "He is the fourth and final member of the new Elemental Force."

"Wait, what" Cole gasped. "The new Elemental Force, but, what about everyone else?" He was deep voiced, which seemed to suit him.

"Elemental Force still has lower members who basically ask for a badge and go steal things." Wu told him. "But proper members have been far, far between, since the Chen event, over a decade ago. We need more of that type, which is who you shall train to be."

"And rescue my sister." Kai reminded him angrily. Jay gasped.

"We're saving a girl! Is she hot?"

"Jay!" Cole exclaimed. "Shut up!" He gave the smaller teen a shove.

"Hey, easy big guy. We just need to know everything about-" He stopped immediately when he saw Kai's face.

"Back off!" Kai snarled. Wu smiled.

"I'll leave you to get acquainted." He said, and left.

 **Sorry it took forever, but this week's been busy as hell, and it's about to get worse! ;)**


	5. A not so silent night

**TheNinjaOfArt: That's OK, we all speak our languages. You can review in Mexican, and I'll translate myself :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yeah, our Jay isn't the brightest :) Aww thanks, you know, I've never got so many nice reviews from people, this is a very popular story!**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: Aww thanks :) I'm rather fond of it too**

 **Guest (you'll know who you are): Whoa, genius, really? Well, if you insist :) Well, it shall be updated, probably rather regularly**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Yeah, it's one of my favourites too :) I made Wu more badass because he's younger and more of a modern fighter, which makes his character suit the plotline**

 **Cerenda: Well, there's more badass Wu to come, I promise :) Well, our favourite boys will bond, eventually. Aww, than you. If only my English teacher gave me that sort of praise :)**

Kai, Cole, Jay and Zane stood in an awkward silence for a while. Kai looked at the floor, he didn't want to 'acquainted' with the others. He just wanted to rescue Nya and get out of here, but from the sound of it, the others were in for the long term. Their mistake.

"So this sister of yours." Jay said after a while. "Does she have a favourite colour? Mine's blue." He caught a glimpse of Kai's face. "Hey, hey, I'm just asking!"

"Better be." Kai snarled, rather than admit that Nya's favourite colour was blue.

"Come on Jay." Cole said, grabbing the other boy's arm and pulling him over towards the video games. "We've gotta beat our high score!" Jay nodded excitedly, and Cole shot Kai an apologetic look before the game was unpaused and the pair were soon shouting again.

"Sorry about them." Zane told Kai. He seemed very shy, but kind as well, and Kai found him easier to manage than Cole and Jay. "But we are children after all."

Kai gave a little nod. "How old are you?" He asked. Zane looked uncomfortable.

"Round about Jay's age. He's fourteen, and Cole's fifteen."

"Almost sixteen!" Cole shouted from his console, and Zane blushed a bit, which didn't really suit his pale complexion.

"You?" He asked.

"Little younger than Cole." Kai muttered.

"Hey Kai, do you wanna join the game?" Jay called. Kai stepped backwards immediately.

"Actually, I'm just gonna turn in early tonight." He said, keeping secret the fact that he barely knew what a video game was, let alone how to play it.

"Bedroom's round the left corner, third door on the left." Zane told him. "Bathroom next to it."

"OK." Kai muttered.

...

A few hours later, Kai was still lying awake in his new bed. It was smaller and more cramped than the infirmary bed he had had before, but he was used to sleeping like this, so was able to get slightly comfortable. Yet he still couldn't sleep, maybe because he had gotten enough rest earlier, or because he was too stressed and worried about Nya. The bedroom had two bunk beds, so it was obvious he was going to be sharing with the three other boys. And he also knew he would be having some kind of nightmare, which was why he didn't particularly want to sleep.

The door opened and Kai quickly shut his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He heard three pairs of feet coming into the room. He felt someone come over and look at him for a few seconds, and kept as still as possible.

"I think he's asleep." Came the quiet tone of Zane.

"We gotta check." Jay muttered, apparently trying not to be heard. He raised his voice. "A guy with that many spikes in his hair has got to be covering for a small penis!" This insult was so pathetic that Kai couldn't have retaliated even if he'd wanted to.

"Yep, he's asleep." Jay said, and there was the sound of the boys undressing and wriggling into pyjamas that had been laid out on each bed. Kai was in a pair he had found on his bed, which fitted him perfectly. He suspected they had been bought specifically for him.

"So, opinions?" Cole asked, from the other side of the room. There was a creaking sound from above Kai, as someone swung themselves into the bunk above him.

"The new guy?" Zane asked, also at the other side of the room, which meant the one above him was Jay.

"Well, naturally." Jay called from above Kai. "That's what me and you did when Cole arrived, remember? Gossip about the new guy while he's asleep?"

"Hey!" Cole exclaimed, but he didn't sound too cross. These three boys seemed like close friends, like the friends Kai had never had. Yet he kept quiet and listened.

"I dunno, he seems OK." Cole said. "Little anti-social, but it doesn't feel like he has much experience." Kai wanted to snort, but knew he had to keep quiet.

"Wu told me a bit about him." Zane said, and Kai held his breath.

"Well, come on! Spill the beans!" Jay exclaimed.

"He's fifteen, and the son of two ex-gang members. He got injured fighting a Skulkin general, who kidnapped his sister, because their parents were hiding the map. He was living alone with his sister, Nya in a dumpy apartment block because their parents disappeared when he was six."

Kai bit his lip and clenched his fingers in anger. How DARE that old man tell this random boy all about himself! He wanted to march out of the room and slap Wu, but kept quiet and still yet.

"Whoa!" Jay exclaimed. "On his own from six! He's harder than he looks!"

"No wonder he seems such a closed book." Cole noted. Kai now wanted to slap them too.

"I wonder which ones his parents were." Jay wondered aloud. "I have a hard time believing my mum and dad were in Elemental Force, they're totally lame and own a JUNKYARD!" He sounded embarrassed.

"Yeah, and my dad's a musician!" Cole added. "He's in a cappella quartet!"

Kai expected Zane to complain about his parents, but when the other boy did speak, it was in a stiff tone. "You know what guys, can we cut this short? I'm kind of tired."

"Yeah, OK." Jay sighed. "Goodnight." The others fell silent and Kai rolled over, opening his eyes. To his surprise, they met Zane's in the opposite bottom bunk. Zane's eyes widened, and without a word, he rolled over and Kai was left staring at his back, clad in white pyjamas. He rolled back over again, and shut his eyes, trying to sleep at last.

 **It's a bit shorter than normal, but there's only so much conversation before bed ;)**


	6. Talk of Parents

**Whoa, that's twice as many reviews as I usually get by chapter six! SEVEN LAST CHAPTER! WHOA! I LOVE YOU GUYS! This must be my most popular story yet!**

 **TheNinjaOfArt: Ooh, liking the Spanish/Mexican lessons. Thanks for the translation. Yeah, Kai isn't going to bond with the others as easily as in the pilots, well, we do have more time here to do this properly. :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Yeah, I love the bromances in Ninjago as well, and Cole and Jay has always stood out for me, not just because Jay is my favourite character. Cinnamon roll? That's a new one, but whatever. We'll see a bit more emotional depth for Zane when it comes to his family later on. :)**

 **Guest (you know who you are): Yes, I did update. Glad to see you're happy :)**

 **Bookkeeper2004: OK OK OK OK OK! :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Haha, yeah, Jay isn't the brightest ninja in the team. Thanks, that is one of my favourite chapters so far :)**

 **CHEESEPUF fg: Well, maybe. They're just kids, though perhaps Zane should have been a bit more wise. I think I've already answered your question in OM, but for everyone else's benefit, yes, we may see a bit of the Green Ninja! :)**

 **Cerenda: Me too, but we need to get Kai bonding first before we have our ninja buddies all together :) Hmm, interesting theory, hadn't thought of it before, but now, do you mind if I use it? Well, perhaps, I'll give Zane a little insight to his family further down the line...**

When Kai got up the next morning, it was early, as he was used to getting up early to go to work. When he remembered that he was not in the little bed he shared with Nya, sleeping in his clothes, but in fact in his own bunk along with three other boys that he barely knew, he was awake at once. He swung himself out of bed and took a quick look at his sleeping peers. Cole was snoring slightly, his black hair sticking up all over the pillow, Jay was curled up, his arms around a small teddy bear. Kai felt good for spying on him. An eye for an eye, after all. Zane lay motionless on his back, his eyes shut. If his chest hadn't been rising and falling, Kai would have mistaken him for a dead body.

Kai dressed quickly into his clothes from yesterday and slipped out of the room. Only then did he realise he had no idea where he was going. He turned left at the end of the corridor and opened the first door he came to. He gasped as he saw that it was filled with guns. Proper guns, that could be deadly. Guns that could kill Samukai.

As he examined them further, he found that they had come fresh from the blacksmith's company where he worked, or had worked. As he picked up a long rifle, he realised it had been made by his own hands. He had even scratched his initials into the inside of the barrel, which he could feel now. Never had he expected to hold the weapon again.

"Kai?" Kai jumped and almost dropped the gun. He turned to see Zane stood behind him, dressed in a plain white polo shirt and jeans, his hair neatly combed. Kai hurridly put the gun down.

"Hello." He said gruffly, and Zane blushed a little.

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry about last night." Zane shuffled from one foot to the other. "It's just the guys and me, well you're new and..."

"It's OK." Kai muttered. "We're all kids, shouldn't have expected better."

"No, Kai..." Zane looked uncomfortable. "Jay and Cole aren't bad people, they're just inquisitive, and Jay can be annoying at times. It's just how he is."

"Well you were right, anyhow." Kai told him.

"What do you mean?" Zane asked.

"I don't have a lot of social experience." Kai told him. "The only other kid I really know is Nya, I've haven't been to school since I was six and I have no friends. I don't know how to play video games and I don't have parents. I don't fit in very well."

For a moment, Zane seemed shocked, then he shook his head a little. "I assume you're looking for breakfast. I'll show you the way."

"Erm, sure. Thanks."

...

Kai had never has so much food to eat at once. Not even when his parents had been there. They had always been poor. But now his plate was loaded with sausage, bacon, mushrooms, egg, you name it, he had it. **(Full English breakfast, I know ;)**

"Where does Wu get this much food?" He exclaimed, staring down at his plate.

"I dunno." Jay answered, his mouth full. "I imagine Elemental Force pays well. Are you gonna look at it or eat it?"

Kai decided to eat it. He was glad he did, because it was the nicest thing he had eaten since... well, since he could remember.

Nya would have liked it.

"Good morning boys." Came the commanding tone of Wu as he entered the room. Zane muttered a good morning, and Cole gave a nod, but Jay and Kai were so absorbed in their food they didn't even notice Wu's entrance.

"So, what are we doing today?" Cole asked, kicking Jay under the table to get him to look up. Kai did as well. "The usual?"

"No Cole." Wu joined them at the table, with his own plate of food. "Today, since Kai has arrived, I am going to start training you."

"Wait, what?" Kai exclaimed. "You're telling me you haven't even started training yet! What have you been doing for the past.. I dunno, week?!"

"Slacking off." Jay answered. "Basically what we do back home, play video games, eat junk food, you know, the usual."

"But now you shall train as a team." Wu said, cutting up a sausage. "I'll teach you all you need to know, motorbike riding, guns, raiding procedure..."

"How to rescue hostages." Kai said sternly. Wu nodded. "As you others may have guessed, Kai doesn't plan to be here very long. He wants his sister back, then he wants out."

"And the money you promised me." Kai snapped, feeling his usual angry mood descend on him again.

"And money." Wu added.

"Seriously, what make you guys want to be part of this, anyway?" Kai asked the others. "What did he promise you, fame, power, money? Because someday you'll all be in jail."

"To be honest, anything's better than your dad trying to train you up into a dancer." Cole sighed. "My talents lie in brute force, this could be something I'm good at, finally." He looked down at his plate. "I've never been much good at anything before."

"I'm just easy to persuade." Jay muttered. Kai was pretty sure this wasn't the real reason, as Jay had lost his cocky smile, but didn't push it. He looked at Zane, who was suddenly eating his breakfast with great gusto.

"What about you, Zane?" He asked. "You seem a nice enough guy, what are you doing here?"

"So, Wu, what are we starting with today?" Zane asked. "Can't wait to get onto driving those motorbikes!"

"Seriously, come on Zane, you've gotta have a drive!" Kai argued.

"Kai..." Wu said warningly. Zane's hands were beginning to clench into fists.

"What, you wanted to abandon your parents for a life they gave up?" Kai asked.

"I don't have parents!" Zane snapped suddenly. "I don't have a motivation, I don't have any need for money, fame or power and I don't have a sister!" He got up and stormed out of the room.

"Really Kai?" Jay sighed. "Should I-"

"No, leave him." Wu said. "Zane will be fine, we can start training without him, if he is not ready."

"What's he so tense about?" Kai muttered. "I don't have parents either."

"Which does not make you special." Wu said sternly. "You are angry about your parents, but I know what it's like to lose your family."


	7. Gambling while Training

**Even though it's probably a day after by the time you read this, Happy Easter! :)**

 **QueenoftheJordan: I know. But there's a lot more for him to go through yet!**

 **stormyskies8: Ouch indeed. I looked at your profile, I LOVE How to train your dragon too! :)**

 **TheNinjaOfArt: Yes, there will be some changes to the plot, quite big changes actually. Don't worry, I'm not planning on killing anyone :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: Haha, I hate mushrooms as well :) Well, in this version of Wu's character, he doesn't have that much family, at least, not for a while...**

 **RandomDragon2.0: YES! I always just want to climb into the TV screen and hug/slap characters. I frequently yell at the book I'm reading and when I was watching Ninjago episode 84, my mum had to come into my room to tell me to calm down! :) Well, wait no more, my dragon friend. :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: I want to hug him too, but hopefully someone else will get there first :)**

 **Cerenda: Haha, Jay and his pillow. In 2 days, I'll be in the place where I first saw that episode; LEGOLAND! Yes, Kai does need social practise :)**

 **For those who didn't just read that, I'll be in LEGOLAND for a bit over the next week, so I won't be able to write. Just so you know :)**

Despite Wu's need to train the boys together, Zane did not reappear for several hours, so Wu trained Kai, Jay and Cole alone. They stood just outside the abandoned shipwreck in front of the old man who they either despised or were wary of.

"So, listen up." Wu said in his commanding voice. "For the next fortnight at least, I'll put you through hard, brute training, not just riding bikes and target practise. You've got to be fit, strong and enduring to even stand a chance of going on a mission."

"Whoa, hold up!" Kai stepped forward slightly. "A FORTNIGHT! Nya's been with the Skulkins for at least two days now! Who knows what they'll do to her!"

"Yeah, and why do I need to get in shape?" Cole demanded. "Jay maybe, but Kai looks fine as well."

"Thanks." Kai muttered and Jay exclaimed sarcastically.

"Do you want to go back to your over emotional father, be forced into a life of dancing and be stuck knowing nothing about your mother's past that she planned to tell you before she died of cancer?" Wu demanded. Cole gasped, and looked at the ground.

"No."

"Then shut up."

"Hey, he's probably just worried for Kai, about his sister." Jay said quickly, stepping in front of Cole. "I mean, really, a fortnight? Does it really take that long?"

"Usually it takes months, but I have limited time." Wu answered sharply. "It is a few weeks until the anniversary of the Chen event, and an attack is scheduled on the evening. Our leader wants everyone there, including you boys."

"Yeah, while you're saying that, how is it that there's only boys you recruited?" Jay asked. "Or do the chicks get trained somewhere separate?" He looked around expectantly.

"Word of advice mate, don't say 'chick' in front of a dude with a sister." Cole muttered, and Jay caught sight of Kai's angry face.

"Sorry. Girls." He looked at Wu, who sighed.

"We would have a girl amongst us if Nya hadn't been kidnapped." Kai told Jay. "And I'm going to get her back, in less than a fortnight." He eyed Wu with angry determination. "Right?" Wu smiled.

"So you think you can get yourself into top Elemental Force form in a week?" He asked, a mocking tone in his voice.

"I know it." Kai told him. The pair eyed each other for a few seconds, before Wu turned to Jay and Cole.

"And you two? Do you think you can do the same as Kai?"

Jay looked uncertain for a minute, but then nodded. "Yeah, I can as well."

"And me." Cole added.

"Very well." Wu said with a nod. "I used to be somewhat of a gambler in my youth," Cole and Jay snickered, and somehow, Kai found he did as well. "So I propose a bet. If you can get the nod of approval from our leader in a week, then I will take you all on a mission, before the Chen event raid."

"A chance to rescue Nya?" Kai asked, and Wu nodded. He grinned. "I accept."

"Me too." Cole said.

"Me three." Jay added. "And Zane probably will as well."

"Probably will what?" Zane had somehow appeared out of the ship, his hair a little rumpled, but otherwise normal.

"Oh, Zane buddy. Hi!" Jay waved as Zane came to join them."

"Get trained in a week to go on a mission." Cole told him. Zane gave a small smile.

"Count me in."

"Good, Zane." Wu said with a smile. "So it's settled. And in order to make good with your task, ten laps around the ship!" He grinned at the boy's shocked expressions. "Well, go on. And he who doesn't finish in three minutes has to do twenty."

All four gulped and set off at a run at once.

...

"Hey, Zane." Kai asked as they rounded their fourth lap.

"Yeah?" Zane panted. He was sweating badly and his pale complexion was going red.

"I wanted to say, I'm sorry. About, what I said at breakfast. I didn't know."

"That's OK." Zane panted as Wu came into sight again round the bow of the boat. "You had no way of knowing."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it OK." Kai told him.

"Trust me, it's fine." Zane reassured him. "Your situation's worse than mine, you have someone to miss." Kai didn't know what to make of this, so ignored it.

"Well, where I'm from, you learn to never back down from a fight. You're actually the first person I've every apologised to who wasn't Nya."

Zane looked impressed. "Cool." He said with a small smile.

"Less talking, more running, you have a minute left!" Wu yelled as they passed. Both boys gulped and immediately picked up the pace.

...

"Wake up, little girl." The voice was chilling and Nya opened her eyes immediately. She couldn't see anyone at first, and then, a shadowy figure in the corner of the room.

"Who are you calling, little girl!" She snapped. She knew she had to be brave, for Kai. Do what he would do in this situation.

"Well, you are rather small. And young."

"Whatever. Who are you and what do you want from me?" She asked. The figure came forward and Nya gasped. It was a tall, muscular, black man with a brown fedora hat and a nasty smile. Nya knew instinctively not to trust him.

"Where are my manners?" The man exclaimed in false surprise. "I am the leader of the Skulkin Gang, but you can call me Mr. G." Nya frowned.

"OK 'Mr. G' what am I doing here?"

"Well, Nya Smith, yes I know your name. My henchmen brought you here because we need the map to the Elemental Tasers, powerful weapons that can help us win this gang war. It's in your necklace, but it is proving almost impossible to open without the combination code. We need you let to tell us what that is."

"Sorry, but I don't know." Nya snapped. "Now let me go!"

"Oh come on, Nya." Mr. G purred. "Of course your parents would have told you, I just need you to remember."

"I don't even remember my parents." Nya told him. "They abandoned us when I was three!"

"I remember things from when I was two." Mr. G told her. "And you're not leaving this room until you do."

"Wait, what!" Nya gasped, but Mr. G was already on his way out. "Wait, you maniac! You can't leave me here like this, you-" But the door had already shut and locked. Nya let out a sob of despair. She was never getting out of here.

 **By the way, I made some large edits to my profile involving my fandom list, so if you want to check it out, it's there :)**


	8. Lamb Pie

**I'm baaaack! Can I just say, I'm overwhelmed with the response this story has gotten. When I write a story, it usually finishes with about thirty chapters and exactly 37 reviews. This has gotten forty! And we're probably not even half way through! Holy C***! Thank you all so much! :D**

 **Bookkeeper2004: I know it's from Chapter 6, but it's at the top of the list. Well, you shall, I won't leave you hanging. Be patient, you'll find out at some point. :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: You're right, being kidnapped isn't usually very good :) Yeah, he and Jay won't hit it off for a while, but they seem to be on good terms for now. Aww thanks, kind people like you make me smile :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Yes, Zane be back, baby :) Yeah, they're finally starting to bond together. As in times, I'd say Nya was with the Skulkin for a week or so, but she'll be there longer in this story.**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: Happy Birthday for then, and I hope you enjoy yourself as much as I did (seriously, it was amazing!) I saw your fandom list, that's what inspired me for mine :) Yes, Mr. G is Garmadon.**

 **Cerenda: Well, Wu is taking a more mean streak here, but you'll find out why later. I like Jay and Cole's friendship the best, it brings out the best in both of them. :) Yes, there may be a reason behind Jay's obsession with Kai's sister... :) The leader's going to be tough to impress, he's quite, cynical? Totally, yeah, heh heh... (PS. this will make more sense later)** **I certainly did freak out in Ninjago land, so many photos, I even managed a selfie with Jay! :D**

"Pick up the pace, Kai!" Wu called as Kai ran his second to last lap around the ship, a tedious, mind numbing activity that the boys had been put through many times in the past week. Kai was now even more muscular than he had been previously, and Jay and Zane were bulking up too. As well as running, the boys had learnt to ride motorbikes, shoot guns (Jay had nearly taken Cole's head off), and fight using their fists. Kai had learned that Cole packed a solid punch, and had a nasty black eye which Cole had apologised for many times.

Kai stumbled past the finish line just as Wu clicked the stopwatch. "Hmm, a new personal best." The old man muttered, and Kai thought he could see a tiny smile in the corner of his mouth. He grinned breathlessly and went over to join Jay, who was bouncing from foot to foot.

"Ooh, I am so ready for this!" He exclaimed, grinning his usual grin.

"Good luck." Kai told him. Even though he was annoying, he was cool with Jay. He understood Jay definitely hid something, but at least he'd stopped hitting on Nya, and two days ago, stopped asking questions about her. Kai was accustoming to life with these boys. Something inside him was making him want to be here.

"Jay!" Wu called and Jay hurried off for his timed laps. Kai headed off inside to cool off. He went into the room with the games console to see Cole and Zane going hard at it.

"Come ON, we need to beat Jay's high score!" Zane shouted. Kai sat down on the sofa and started to squint down at Zane's abandoned book. He had left school at a young age, and therefore had very limited reading skills.

"Hey Kai, we could use your help to win a bet!" Cole called over his shoulder. "While mouth of lightning runs his laps."

"Erm, no thanks. I'm not too good at video games." Kai told him. He still hadn't told the others he had no idea how to play video games.

"Come on, we'll split the twenty quid with you!" Zane told him, bouncing up and down as he shot the hell out of the little onscreen ghosts.

Kai sighed. He did need the money.

"OK, but you guys are gonna have to tell me what to do." He took up a controller.

"What do you mean?"

"I live in the worst apartment block in town and I'm poor as dirt. Do you think I've ever played video games before?"

"Oh." Zane muttered. "I guess I should have thought of that."

"Come on, it's easy." Cole showed him his own controller. "Press the X button to shoot, O to jump and the square to run. There's arrows as well, that should be fairly self explanatory."

Kai tried shooting, and watched his avatar take down a row of about twenty ghosts before his eyes.

"Whoa, you're a natural!" Zane exclaimed. Kai grinned, jumped over a particularly large and armed ghost, and shot it hard in the back.

"Yeah!" He cheered. "Take that, Jay's high score!" Cole and Zane laughed and the trio continued to zap the hell out of the ghosts until they passed the level with flying colours.

"What's going on?" Jay's voice came as he entered the room and threw himself onto the sofa, he was covered in sweat. He rolled off and crawled over immediately when he saw the screen. "No way, you did not beat my high score!"

"You better believe it, motor mouth!" Cole said with a grin. "Kai's almost as good at these games as you are, and he's never played before."

"No way!" Jay gasped, looking for a controller, but there were none left. "Aww, damn."

"In your face!" Zane giggled as they moved onto level five. Jay picked up an abandoned bag of crisps and sat on the sofa, basking in his defeat. The boys continued this way for a few minutes, before the door burst open and Wu appeared.

"Get yourselves into top form, now, make sure you're clean and presentable." He gasped, looking concerned.

"What?" Cole paused the game. "What happened?"

"Elemental Force's leader is here, I saw his car approaching." Wu told him. The boys gasped.

"But he wasn't supposed to be here until this evening!" Zane gasped.

"Well, seems he changed his mind. Straighten your clothes, get your jackets, Jay, I told you to take as shower!"

Jay shrugged as Wu rolled his eyes and hurried off.

"What's he got a bee in his bonnet about?" Jay grumbled as he rooted under the sofa for the Elemental Force combat jackets they'd been given.

"It's his boss, he's worried." Kai told him as he grabbed his own jacket off the floor, and tossed one to Zane, who glanced at it and tossed it to Jay, who had just snatched one.

"Here's mi-, oh, thanks Zane." He threw the jacket he'd found to Cole, who gave the one he'd been sitting on to Zane. They smartened themselves up, Jay wiped his forehead on a blanket and the four of them went outside.

Wu was there, and he gave the three of them a quick look over, and sighed. A chocolate brown limousine was just drawing up to the shipwreck.

"Be polite, formal and don't do or say anything stupid." Wu muttered as the limousine parked.

"Got it."

"And mention nothing about the bet!" The boys shared looks, but stood immediately to attention as the door to the limousine opened and the leader of Elemental Force stepped out.

Kai observed the man. He was no taller than Wu, overweight and probably in his forties. His brown hair was styled into a quiff and he had a lazy grin, as well as fancy brown clothes.

"What's this guy's obsession with brown?" Jay muttered to Cole. Wu shot him a look, then stepped forward.

"Mr Brown-"

"Oh." Jay muttered.

"How nice of you to come, earlier than expected."

"Oh you know me, Wu." Mr Brown said with a wide grin, clapping the other man on the back. "Never quite punctual. And I've told you about a million times to call me Dareth!"

"I recall." Wu muttered. Dareth gave him a wink and strolled over to Kai, Cole, Jay and Zane, who were stood to attention, like they'd been instructed.

"Well boys, nice to meet the legends Wu has told me all about. Come on now, don't be so serious. This isn't the army, after all."

Kai was wondering if Jay had ever been called serious before in his life as Jay snapped out of the attention pose at once.

"I'm Jay Walker, sir." He said with a smile, extending a hand. "But my friends tend to call me the mouth of lightning, can't see why, I'm more like the mouth of thunder, kind of loud."

Wu facepalmed.

Dareth laughed. "I like you, boy." He shook Jay's hand. "Walker, eh? Can't say I remember that name." He looked at Wu.

"Perhaps you remember the name Gordon?" Wu suggested, making Jay frown in confusion.

"Ah yes, Olivia. I see the resemblance now." He smiled, but Jay still looked very confused. "Well, good to meet the famed son she used to speak to much about."

Jay looked at Cole for help, who just shrugged. Dareth moved on to Cole. "You don't need to tell me here." He said with a wide smile. "This is the grandson of Cornelius Brookestone, Clyde, am I right?"

"Cole." Cole told him, giving a handshake. "Uh, nice to meet you."

"Ooh, that's a killer handshake there!" Dareth exclaimed, and Cole flushed a little. "Just like your grandfather."

"I, erm, never met my grandfather." Cole muttered. Dareth gave a shrug and moved onto Kai, who instantly felt uncomfortable.

"And here we have the double whammy, both of your parents were amazing while they were with us." Kai gave a shrug.

"They didn't teach me a lot of their tricks."

"Well, you seem to be doing fine anyway." Dareth told him, the usual grin plastered on his face. "My condolences on your sister, by the way."

"Nya isn't dead." Kai said suddenly, his tone sliding into his usual blunt anger. He stared Dareth down for a few seconds, before Dareth moved onto Zane. Wu glared at him and Kai glared back.

"So, last but not least." Dareth smiled at Zane, who gave a polite smile back.

"I'm Zane." He said. Dareth shook his hand.

"Hmm, my memory fades over the years." He said. "Do you have a surname?" Zane shifted uncomfortably.

"Erm, no. I'm just Zane." He looked nervously at Wu for help. Wu cleared his throat.

"Erm, I have a reason to believe he's somehow related to Richard and Martha." Wu said, making Zane frown.

"Ah yes, I remember." Dareth shook Zane's hand. "Well, Wu, these seem like fine recruits. Now, I believe it's almost lunchtime, and I remember you make an excellent lamb pie, I would kill to eat one of those again."

Wu cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, head on inside, sir, I can sort something out." Dareth clapped him on the back and headed on inside.

"Sooo, that's our leader then." Jay muttered. "Seems an, interesting guy."

"And why didn't you say you could make lamb pie?" Kai asked with a small smile. Wu sighed.

"Dareth Brown may not seem like much to you, but believe me, he's an amazing warrior." Wu told them. "In the Chen event, he must have slaughtered thirty Skulkins."

"What even is the Chen event?" Cole asked Kai. "He keeps going on about it, but I've never heard of it before.

"Don't ask me, I'm just as clueless as you."

"And what did you mean about Olivia Jordan, or whatever her name is?" Jay asked. "My parents are Ed and Edna Walker.

"Olivia Gordon." Wu corrected him. "She was the best biker of the gang in her day, but is now retired, like so many of the old members of Elemental Force."

"Yeah, an what's her significance to me?" Jay asked, frowning. Wu sighed.

"I didn't want to be the one to tell you this, but Olivia and her husband told us when they were pregnant with a child, you I'm guessing. After you were born, for unknown reasons, she gave you up for adoption."

Jay's mouth dropped open. "You mean..." Wu nodded.

"You are adopted, and your real parents are Olivia and Cliff Gordon." Jay bit his lip and Cole muttered something in his ear. Jay nodded and the pair turned away from Wu, Kai and Zane.

"We best get inside." Zane said quickly, to turn the attention away from Jay. Wu nodded.

"Yes. I suppose it's pie time."


	9. Stars of Childhood

**Well, running out of greeting messages, let's get straight into thanks :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: You're welcome :) I usually check out the profile of a new author who reviews or PMs me. I know, but there's more for Jay to come!**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Big Boss indeed, I can't remember if I said that he's overweight or not. :) Yep, more questions, and we haven't even got onto Zane demanding answers yet!**

 **QueenoftheJordan: Haha, well don't let the excitement end here! More to come yet!**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Haha, yeah that was the desired effect :) Don't worry, Jay has another big secret to come, just to get you excited.**

 **Cerenda: Yep, ninja bromance is something I love as well! Dareth was meant to be funny for the readers, but yes, he isn't the same dojo leader as we all know and love from the show. Aww thanks, nice people being nice like that makes me smile :)**

 **Well, that's it, but it's fine because you're all lovely people :)**

After lunch (which was actually very nice lamb pie) the four teens prepared themselves to show off their skills. Kai was determined to get Dareth's nod of approval so he could go on that mission. He needed to save Nya, and then they could get back to their life...

Maybe. Kai wasn't so sure anymore. But he squashed those feelings down, for now. All that mattered now was Nya.

"Are you boys ready?" Wu asked. Kai nodded determinedly, as did Cole.

"Yes." Said Zane and Jay gave a nod, frowning. He hadn't spoken since Wu had revealed the big news, but he looked OK.

"OK. This is your shot." Wu gave them a serious nod. "Don't blow it." He left them and went over to join Dareth on the top deck.

"Ready guys?" Zane asked. Jay sighed and nodded.

"Yes. We have to do this. For Kai and Nya." Kai was surprised that Jay had said this before he had, but nodded.

"Yeah. For my sister."

They nodded and smiled at each other.

"Ready?" Wu called.

"Born and raised ready!" Cole shouted back. Wu nodded and Dareth grinned.

"Show me what you've got, boys!"

First off, it was their gun skills. All of the boys could hit a target by now, even Jay, and they managed to fill the painted and moving cardboard targets with bullets, basically impaling the ship.

"Nice." Dareth said with a smile. The boys grinned at each other and put their guns down.

Next was their riding skills. Wu had gotten his hands on four crappy motorbikes that didn't go to a very good speed. Riding them was a skill that some of them lacked. Cole had picked it up easily enough, Jay had obviously done it before, but Kai and Zane had struggled badly in picking it up and remembering all the different levers and what they did. Kai gripped the handle of the bike and curled his fist around the throttle, or was it the break?

It turned out to be the throttle, because the bike shot forwards, heading straight for Zane, who was just nervously mounting his machine. Kai gasped, and yanked the handlebars to the left to the bike veered around in a huge curve, skidding through the desert dust, disguising the fact that he had lost control. Unfortunately, this left the bike heading straight for Jay. The eyes of the two boys met and Jay gasped in fear, starting to turn his bike around. Kai saw that the only thing between the pair of them was a ramp shaped rock, and a sudden, crazy and stupid idea flew into his head.

Just do it. For Nya.

Kai sped up and headed straight for that rock. Just like in all the action movies that he'd never watched, Kai's bike flew up the ramp and way up into the air, soaring right over Jay's bike. His teammate watched open-mouthed, as Kai flew through the air, and landed in a huge swirl of dust. The dust was so thick he managed to disguise the fact that he'd almost fallen over and when it cleared, the bike was perfectly balanced, the brakes on at last.

"Wow!" Dareth cheered. "Bravo Kai!" Kai grinned as Jay and the others turned and goggled at him.

"Come on." He called. "Let's go!" He suddenly felt filled with a wonderful new confidence, and pushed hard on the throttle of the machine.

"Yeah!" Jay cheered, and the four machines roared forwards, perfectly in sync.

...

"Well, I must say, that was bloody impressive!" Dareth exclaimed as the sun went down over the desert. "You've done a brilliant job, Wu."

"Thank you." Wu nodded. "How are preparations for the Chen raid coming?"

"Slow, but it'll be ready in time." Dareth said. "And the boys will be coming with us, of course. They're all splendid at all of our needed skills, Cole is a brilliant shot, and Kai's biking? Phoar!" Wu could only smile and nod and wonder how Kai had pulled off such a stunt.

"Will you be joining us that night Wu?" Dareth asked. Wu was surprised by this.

"Sir, you know I don't do a lot of practical work nowadays."

"Yes, of course, your injury and everything." Dareth gave a respectful nod. "But it was ten years ago now, a golden anniversary. And it's unlikely we'll see the face of Mr. G!"

"Mr. G has nothing to do with it!" Wu snapped, then he took a deep breath and collected himself. "He does not cloud my judgement. I'm just not the man I used to be anymore."

"Of course." Dareth gave a respectful nod. "He'd be twenty four, now, wouldn't he?"

"Twenty two." Wu corrected. "But..." He sighed. "I won't be joining you. Can't we just drop the subject?"

"Of course." Dareth gave a nod. "Well, I best be getting back to the city. Those idiots back at headquarters aren't going to yell at themselves." Wu smiled and nodded, and watched as Dareth got into his limousine and drove away. He took a deep breath and looked up at the stars. He had secretly named a star after everyone who had fallen before him. Olivia. Cornelius. Ray and Maya. Richard and Martha. His father. And that one particular star that burnt brighter than the others. Wu sighed. At least he'd be alone on the anniversary.

...

"Zane, you coming?" Kai called as he swung himself into his bunk.

"Yeah!" Zane called from the bathroom and entered the room, flattening his hair. He got into his own bed below Cole.

"Well, what a day, huh?" Cole sighed. "I think we managed to impress Mr. Brown, all right!"

"You know what that means!" Jay cheered.

"Mission time!" Kai exclaimed. 'And a chance to rescue Nya' he thought. But he kept this to himself.

"I suppose Wu will let us know in the morning." Zane said, though he was quieter and sounded less excited than the others.

"We best get to sleep." Kai told them, noticing Zane's discomfort. "We could be going on that mission tomorrow, we need rest!"

"Argh, now I won't be able to sleep for hours, I'm so excited!" Jay exclaimed. "Well, I'll try." He yawned.

"Not tired, huh?" Cole smirked.

"No." Jay yawned. "But, we best turn in for the night, you know. Big day tomorrow!"

"Yeah." Cole agreed, rolling over, making the bed above Zane creak. "Night guys."

"Night." Kai said back, trying to make it sound like he was tired, but really, he'd never felt more awake. He couldn't wait to find Nya again, and then leave for a better life? He didn't really want to betray Zane, Jay and Cole, but neither did he want Nya to think that he was a hardened criminal. He sighed. 'Whatever happens, happens' he thought to himself. But Kai couldn't sleep, and lay awake in bed for hours, listening to Cole snoring, and Jay sighing.

And someone crying.

Kai frowned, he'd been half asleep, but now this sound had come and he slowly came alert that it was someone in the room, someone close by. As quietly as he could, Kai rolled over and examined the darkened room.

He couldn't see Cole or Jay, but it didn't matter, because Kai had already found the culprit. Zane was lying away from Kai, and his shoulders were shaking slightly. Kai frowned.

"Zane?" He called quietly. The crying ceased immediately.

"Yeah?" Zane called back in an almost normal voice. Kai himself found it hard to believe that Zane had been crying himself to sleep.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes." Zane said stiffly, but a small sob escaped. Kai rolled out of bed and crawled over to Zane's bed.

"What is it?" He asked, putting his arm around Zane's shoulders. "I'm not quite the idiot you all think I am." Zane gave a small laugh and sniffed.

"I was just wondering what Wu meant about Richard and Martha, whoever they are." Zane sighed. "Wu said to Dareth that we're somehow related, but he never told me that. He's hiding something, maybe my parents weren't part of Elemental Force, maybe I'm just a random kid Wu plucked off the street to keep the numbers up because he couldn't find anyone else. I was first here, you know."

"I'm sure that's not true." Kai told him comfortingly. "Did your parents ever seem, like, odd to you or anything? Because that could be proof."

"I don't remember my parents." Zane said quite, matter-of-factly.

"You must remember something." Kai said, quit surprised.

"I remember NOTHING, Kai!" Zane snapped. He sighed. "Absolutely nothing from my past, my childhood! My earliest memory is from age seven, fishing in a frozen lake and wondering who my dad is, and why he doesn't come to get me." He wiped his face quickly. "I barely know who I am. No one does."

"Oh." Kai muttered. "Wow, Zane, I-" But he had nothing to say.

"I'm sorry." He settled on. Zane sighed.

"Don't be, it doesn't matter." He said. "Like you said, your parents left you. At least I don't remember that."

"To be honest, I barely remember my parents." Kai admitted. "When they first disappeared, I kept telling Nya that they'd be back, tell her stories about them, though most of it was absolute crap. I made a whole book of lies up about them just to keep Nya happy, I'd do anything to keep her happy. Keep that smile on her face..." Kai found he was the one wiping his face now. Zane looked on curiously.

"What's it like, to have a family?" He asked. "I mean, I'd ask the others, but you, you're different in that sense..." He ducked his head.

"Nah, it's fine." Kai took a deep breath. "Well, Nya's really all I've got, but she's good to depend on, you know..." The pair of them somehow spent the entire night talking. Kai told stories about his little sister, and Zane told what he could remember about his younger self, living alone and friendless on the streets from a very young age, some parts were pretty funny.

"Wu says it's probably some amnesia disease that I've got." He told Kai. "Some accident that caused it, so I can't remember my past. Maybe my memories will return, maybe they won't." He shrugged. "At least I have a good life for now."

"Yeah." Kai responded, and some part of him, somewhere deep down inside, decided that he wouldn't leave Zane.

 **Before you ask, no I am not moving on to some sort of Kai X Zane ship here. They're just friends! I don't do crossover ships, especially not in Ninjago.**


	10. Coffee first timer

**Whoa, story may or may not be half way through yet, and we have HALF A HUNDRED REVEIWS! OMFG, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, YOU AMAZING AND LOVELY PEOPLE! :D :D :D**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Glad you are! :) Wu's backstory will get more interesting and revealed as we go down the line.**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: Well, that's because I haven't revealed a lot of it yet, but there will be a chapter where he reveals it to the boys, and the readers :)**

 **QueenoftheJordan: Nice to know you think so :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: When I read D man, I just thought of something completely different, I'm sorry :) Haha, yeah, Kai needs a bit of practise before doing anything big again! I seem to have set up a Kai and Zane bromance, because Lloyd isn't training with them and Cole and Jay are besties :) They'll stick together.**

 **Cerenda: Ooh, you don't know HALF of what will happen at the Chen raid, and what happened ten years ago. It's big, I can tell you :) I'll reveal more about what happened to Ray and Maya later. I don't want to give away too much, but Zane's backstory isn't going to follow the same as the show, not really.**

 **Anyhow, on with the story :)**

"Coffee?" Kai asked as Jay placed the cup in front of him.

"You looked like you needed it." Jay explained with a grin. Kai looked down at the mug. He'd never tried coffee before, but had seen other people at his work drinking it, saying how it made them feel less tired. And Kai hadn't slept all night, he felt he needed it. Well, here goes.

Kai took a sip and immediately burnt his tongue and throat, and choked on the dark, bitter taste that filled his mouth.

"Jesus!" He gasped, and everyone laughed.

"Morning." Wu said as he entered, looking just as tired as Kai felt. His hair was messy and his clothes didn't have the same crisp demeanour as usual. He sat down and brought a few papers out of his pocket.

"So, Wu, we won the bet." Jay said as the old man read. "When's our mission?" He didn't quite expect an immediate response, more of an aggravated sigh, but-

"Tonight." Wu answered, taking a bite of some toast. The effect was immediate; Jay dropped the sausage he'd been about to stuff into his mouth, Cole gasped and Kai choked on his coffee again, and had to be pat on the back by a shocked Zane.

"What!" Jay exclaimed, recovering his sausage. "When were you planning on telling us?"

Wu gave a long sigh and passed them a piece of paper each. Kai, recovering from his coughing fit, looked down at his paper. It was a picture of a man, with a few details written around the edges. He gasped as he recognised the face.

"That's the guy who kidnapped my sister, Samukai!" Zane, Jay and Cole peered around to look.

"Not pretty." Cole muttered. He looked down at his own paper, several pictures of what he assumed was the same building, a warehouse, annotated with handwritten notes. "Wu, what is this?"

Wu took a sip of his own coffee. "That, Cole, is our target. Our raid centre. Our object. In short, the place we are going to break into and discover the purpose of."

"Cool." Zane said with a grin. "So, what's this?" He held out his own paper, lots and lots of typed up writing.

"That's the history of the place, it's been used to store imported and smuggled weapons. That may be what it's being used for now. It was bought a few years ago, using cash rather than a ban account. The owner is Samuel Banks, or Samukai, as you may know him. A high ranking member of the gang." Kai looked down at the ugly picture of the man who had taken his sister away from him, shot his landlord, destroyed his life and rearranged it into this.

"Do you think Samukai will be there?" He asked.

"It's unlikely, but we shouldn't rule it out." Wu said. "So that's why we'll be armed to the teeth. He's a dangerous man."

"Do you think there'll be a chance to rescue Nya?" Kai asked. Wu frowned and went very quiet for a few seconds.

"No." He said eventually. "But that doesn't rule it out. The purpose of this mission is to take photos and find out what the building is for, we want minimum fuss. If you see your sister, do not go after her. Let me take care of it."

"Hey, that's hardly fair!" Jay exclaimed. "It's his sister. I know if I-... If I had a sister, I'd go after her. I wouldn't be able to help myself."

Kai was surprised to find Jay sticking up for his case, but frowned and stated his agreement. Wu rolled his eyes.

"Don't do anything stupid that will get you caught. That goes for all of you, understood?"

"Yes." They all said simultaneously. Wu sighed.

"That's an achievement, I suppose. Now, I know you did well yesterday, but don't get carried away. You're not immortal, you're barely scraping the surface of what it takes to be a successful Elemental Force member. But you all have different, special abilities that you can rely on. Jay is fast," Jay grinned and licked his plate clean, as he'd been eating all the way through Wu's speech.

"Cole is strong." Cole smiled and took a sip of his coffee.

"Zane is one of the smartest teenagers I have ever met." Zane blushed a little.

"And Kai," Wu looked at the last teenager before him. "A trait I have hardly ever seen in anyone else, but another man from my younger days."

"Care to tell?" Kai asked.

"I'll let you know later." Wu said with a mysterious smile. "For now, train, get yourselves ready for tonight! With luck, this'll either be one of the biggest nights of your young lives, or you'll all be dead."

...

"You'll all be dead." These words were the ones that rang in Kai's ears as the five of them travelled in a van with a fake logo and number plate, to their destination. To a normal person, the vehicle would seem like it was carrying cardboard boxes to some shipping company. This was partly true, as there were cardboard boxes there, some big and sturdy enough for the boys to sit on as Wu drove. Kai scanned his eyes over his fellow gang members, wondering how they felt, excited, confused, nervous? Kai was a mix of all three.

Wu cleared his throat, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "There should be a box to your left, Cole, a small one. Open it." Cole frowned, but picked up the box without much effort, either meaning it was light, or he was just strong. He opened it and his eyes widened slightly.

"What are these?"

"Jackets." Wu replied, and the others quickly crowded around to see.

"Yeah, but who are they for?" Jay asked, snatching the one on top to examine it. It was a beautiful piece of work, thick, black leather with a few pouches on the chest. It zipped up with a dark grey, yet metal zip, nothing for the light to glint off. On the left side of the zip, where the breast pocket would have been, there was a red circle with a flame in it.

"Take a guess." Wu replied.

"Us!" Zane gasped, grinning all over his face. "They're for us!" Wu gave a nod, and sipped the coffee in a cup that was sat to the left of him in a cup holder. "The official Elemental Force uniform jacket, bulletproof, warm, and badass. When your training's over, you'll find it easy to pick up girls.

"Are they personalised?" Jay asked eagerly, flipping the jacket he was holding, over to reveal a large, red letter 'K' on the back.

"Sort of." Wu answered, steering them down the road. Kai couldn't see out of the windscreen, and the back of the van had no windows, so he had no idea where they were going. It wasn't like he cared much anyway. "Each jacket has a different symbol, and letter. A way to identify different members."

Jay looked at the K, and tossed the jacket to Kai, who caught it eagerly and slid it on over his shirt. It was a perfect fit, hugging his body in the right areas, and he liked the cool flame symbol. Cole quickly handed out the rest of the jackets to everyone else. Zane had a snowflake as his symbol, and his colour was white. Jay's was blue, and he had a lightning bolt. Cole had a scythe symbol, and his colour was dark grey. He slid it on with a grin.

"Don't we look classy!" He exclaimed. "If I hadn't left my phone back at dad's house, we'd have a selfie."

"So, are these from Dareth Brown?" Zane asked, rubbing his leather sleeves.

"Not really, well, yes." Wu said, squinting as rain covered the windscreen. "He gave them to me after I sent him all the measurements of you guys, and you weren't meant to have them until the Chen raid. But since this is your unofficial first mission, I decided you should have them now."

"Sweet decision." Kai told him, and Wu grinned. He slammed on the break and the boys tumbled forwards.

"Hey, warn us when you're about to do that!" Jay exclaimed crossly, but Wu shushed him.

"Quiet! We're here."

Wu opened the van doors and the boys hopped out. Kai noticed for the first time that Wu was wearing his own Elemental Force jacket; his colour seemed to be gold, and his symbol was the typical ying yang that Kai had seen many times as tattoos. The jacket looked like it had been made for a much more muscly man.

"So this is it?" Zane asked, looking up at the warehouse that they were over the road from.

"This is a safe distance." Wu told him. "But yes, this is where your first mission will be held."

 **I know it was kind of anti-climatic in terms of their mission, but there is only so much I can write. Until next time :)**


	11. The Misson, Part One

**Hello again. Sorry about the last chapter being anti-climatic, but thing's will get busier in this chapter! :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yep, a day of new experiences for Kai. :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: I never drink coffee, well, sometimes if I mix in hot chocolate powder... Mmmmm :) I bet the ninja are excited too, but things will get scary for them!**

 **Cerenda: Haha, I might have done that too! :) Aww thanks, you do make me happy. And the jackets were a particular favourite touch of mine, if only I got one of my own! :)**

 **Well, enjoy the story...**

"Jay, help us, Goddamit!"

"He's going to bleed out!"

"Who's got the first aid kit?"

"We left it in the van."

"Shit."

All these words floated around Kai's head, as he felt his own blood under his fingers. He could hardly hear. He felt as if he was going to pass out. How had their mission gone so wrong?

...

It all started with what Wu called, basic procedure. Keeping low, weapons in their hands, crossing the street. Breaking a window to get in, dodging security cameras. Then Jay couldn't get out of the way of one fast enough, so he simply raised his gun and fired. It was a tiny sound, but Wu stiffened and span around.

"What did you just shoot?!" He demanded.

"Camera. Couldn't get out of the way in time." Jay explained. Wu scowled.

"You little idiot! Now they know someone's here, and they'll start the search in this spot. Come on!" He took off at a run down the corridor, no longer taking the time to avoid the cameras. Jay blushed as the four of them ran off after their leader.

"Sorry!" Jay exclaimed as they ran.

"Whatever, no time for that now!" Zane answered, they could hear footsteps approaching in the corridors behind them, then Cole suddenly pointed.

"A cupboard, up there, we can hide!" Wu nodded and reached the cupboard door. He waited for the boys to catch up, then threw open the door.

It wasn't a cupboard. It wasn't another corridor. It was the main body of the warehouse, massive, disused conveyor belts, huge crates and a platform of a second floor, multiple doors and windows were up there, presumably leading to offices. One of the windows has black curtains drawn over it.

It was also deserted.

"Nice one Cole." Wu muttered. "Go, open the crates. See what's inside, remember those little cameras I gave you."

Kai and Zane went off to open a crate, but in order to do this, they had to get on top of it, it was so huge. Kai gave Zane a leg up, then scrambled up himself. It took a while to pry the thing open, but they eventually managed to pull some of the top off. Zane stuck his head inside, and emerged, looking very confused.

"What do you make of this?" He moved aside, letting Kai look in.

For a moment, it was all dark, before Kai's eyes adjusted to the light. He saw what appeared to be several large, black, stuffed dummies made to resemble people. Decoys perhaps? Kai reached his hand inside and gave the nearest one a poke.

It's head whipped round to face him. It's eyes were very much alive.

Kai screamed and scrambled out of the crate.

"There are people inside!" He yelled, and jumped off the crate. Zane looked confused, but then a burst of bullets flew out of the crate, leaving the lid full of holes. He gave a yell and scrambled off the crate, just as it was ripped open from the inside.

Seven adults, all dressed in black, combat outfits and holding guns, emerged from the crate.

"Shit!" Wu gasped. "Run!"

Cole and Jay leapt off their crate, just as it's inhabitants began to shoot their way out. They ran for the ladder leading up to the platform. Zane ran back the way they had come. Wu had run off somewhere, presumably, and was nowhere to be seen. So Kai ran for a random door. He reached it, just as bullets thudded into the ground at his heels. It was a miracle none of them hit him.

Kai threw open the door and slammed it shut behind him. Only when he turned, did he realised he was now in a much worse predicament.

Samukai stood against the far wall, staring at multiple computer screens, completely oblivious to Kai's presence. The teenager let out a long sigh of relief, though it was a quiet one. He then became aware of what was on the screens.

Security camera footage, showing all the different rooms in the warehouse. Cole and Jay were running down a corridor. Zane was shooting for his life, looking very scared. Wu was trying to break into a locker. The room he had just left was in chaos. In fact, as Kai's eyes scanned all the screens that were visible from this angle, the only room it didn't seem to show was the one he was in right now, which made him even more relived. All he had to do now was wait until Samukai left (there was another door) and then he could destroy the system. They'd be able to escape safely.

"Oh, what's this?" Samukai said suddenly, making Kai jump. "Trying to escape again! I'll show you, little bitch." He grabbed a knife and left through the other door.

This was Kai's chance, and he knew it. But what Samukai had said was intriguing him, and he took a look of his own at the cameras.

And stopped dead.

Nya.

His sister.

There she was, tugging desperately at a door handle, in what seemed to be a dimly lit office with black curtains drawn over a window.

The office! He'd seen it, back in the other room! And Samukai had gone another way, he could beat him to her! He could save Nya!

Forgetting all about destroying the system, Kai went for the door he'd just come in by. Most of the men had gone into other parts of the building, but Kai was taking to chances. He came out shooting.

Not caring about who he hit or didn't hit, Kai ran to the ladder, and scaled it faster than he could have ever imagined. He ran to the office with the black curtain and, his heart hammering in his chest, knocked.

"You'll have to open it yourself!" Came a hate filled reply. A sob emerged from Kai's throat and he blinked the tears out of his eyes. It was her! He'd found her!

"Nya!" He exclaimed, and he heard her gasp.

"Kai?"

"Nya, oh my God, NYA!" He ran to the window and flung the curtains open. Nya's amazed face appeared at the window, tears coming out of her eyes. Kai felt them coming down his cheeks too.

"Nya!" He whispered again. "Stand back sis, don't worry, I'll get you out, I promise." He raised his gun.

"Kai, watch out!" Nay suddenly screamed, pointing. Kai turned and saw Samukai, coming their way, fast.

"Shit!" He muttered, but he was armed this time, and all Samukai had was a knife. He raised his gun.

"Never bring a sword to a gunfight!" He called delightedly, but before he could fire, Samukai threw his knife, and it collided with Kai's gun, knocking it out of his hands and sending it spiralling down to smash on the floor below.

"Oh dear!" Kai gasped, because without weapons, he had lost any hope of winning. Samukai was upon him before he knew it, slapping him hard in the face, sending him flying through the air. He landed hard on his back, five feet away.

"Kai!" He hear his sister scream, heard her hammering hard on the glass.

"I should have dealt with you BEFORE you became a problem, little wrech!" Samukai snarled, charging forwards towards Kai.

 **I intended to put their full mission into one chapter, but it's proving to be too long, and I wanted an exciting cliff-hanger, so yeah. I'll try update soon! :)**


	12. A chance in hell

**Nice little cliff-hanger back there, but you'll have to wait a bit to find out what's happening to Kai!**

 **Bookkeeper2004: Well, if you say so (smiles modestly) :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Did I? I thought it was only one. Yep, none of their missions are going to go very well (hint hint) :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yes, and it's all Jay's fault! :) The others... well, they've got stuff of their own to deal with!**

 **Cerenda: Well, they are stupid teenagers after all! :) Though they did do well in training, and the ninja definitely had that skill at that age! I agree, they're both hot headed and like things done fast, yet never give up. And Kai would probably keep fighting authority in that situation. Well, you'll have to wait and see...**

 **:)**

"Why did you have to shoot out that bloody camera!" Cole complained as the pair ran down another corridor. Just running and running, that was all they had been doing.

"I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time!" Jay snapped as he started to pant a little. "Where the heck are we?"

"By the looks of it, back where we started." Cole pointed to a broken security camera.

"And by the sounds of it, near trouble." Jay said, "Listen." The sound of gunfire and shouts came from around the corner.

"Let's go back the other way." Cole said, turning.

"No, it could be one of our own in trouble!" Jay protested. "We have to help them out!"

"Jay, it's too dangerous!" Cole snapped. "We have to go!"

Jay rounded on him angrily. "Imagine waking up in that room to find a bed empty. Imagine playing video games without a Kai to help you! Imagine having a food fight without Zane hiding under the table! Imagine training without Wu yelling at you to go faster! Imagine chatting late at night, without me!"

Cole didn't want to even imagine it. "Let's go." He said, and they ran towards the gun battle.

...

Zane was on the verge of panic. He had gotten himself backed into a corner with three Skulkins advancing, and couldn't see a way out. He was running out of ammo. Oh well, perhaps this was the end. Perhaps he would die here, never remember where he came from, get shot in the face and it would all be over. He prepared to throw down his gun and close his eyes...

"Leave him alone, motherf-" Cole slammed his hand over Jay's mouth. "What?!"

"We don't need entry lines, now you just gave us away for the SECOND TIME!"

"It's what they do in the movies!"

"They mostly die in the movies!"

"Fritz Donnegan is NOT dead! He lived a long and happy life on his home planet!"

"That's because his actor died, you-"

"Are you guys gonna help or what!" Zane yelled, snapping them out of their argument.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Cole brought his gun round and cut into the three Skulkins while they were still staring, bewildered. One tried to fight back, but was shot in the chest before he got the chance. Cole jerked his finger away from the trigger in shock.

"MAN, these things are powerful!" He exclaimed.

"Thanks!" Zane gasped, calming down slightly. "But where's everyone else?"

"God knows." Cole told him. "But we have to find them. I last saw Kai and Wu when everyone came out of the boxes."

"They could still be there." Jay suggested.

"Do you really want to go back in there?" Cole asked. Jay considered.

"Nah, let's go another way."

The three boys moved cautiously down the corridor.

"What do you think Wu is doing?" Zane asked. Cole and Jay shrugged.

"Could be back at the van." Cole suggested. "That's where I'd be if I didn't have to frigging keep an eye on you lot."

"Aww, you love us really!" Jay laughed. and Cole rolled his eyes but smiled. ( **NOT BRUISESHIPPING! BROTHERLY LOVE!** )

"Well, do we go back there, or find Kai?" Zane asked. "I say, find Kai first!"

"It's safer back there, and Kai and Wu could have always find their way back by now." Cole argued.

"Screw that." Zane argued back. "We shouldn't leave members of our team behind if we're not sure!"

"Kid puts up a good argument." Jay admitted. "You coming Cole?"

Cole sighed. "We better make it out alive." He groaned.

...

Kai scrambled backwards from Samukai as the giant approached.

"You think you're so smart, don't you, little bastard!" He growled. "Thought you could save your sister by hoping to defeat US! Well, you've got another thing coming! Elemental Force won't know what'll hit them! It will be the battle at the Chen event ALL OVER AGAIN!"

"Look dude, I don't even know what happened at the Chen event!" Kai gasped, trying to get to his feet, but at the same time, staying shuffling on the floor. Samukai laughed.

"They didn't even tell the precious son of Ray and Maya Smith! Makes sense, I suppose. If you found out what Elemental Force did, you'd hand in that jacket!"

"Not until I get my sister back!" Kai yelled, his anger suddenly flaring up. He leapt to his feet, and ran at Samukai. The man readied himself for a punch of a kick that would do nothing against the hard flab of his stomach, but that wasn't Kai's intention. When there was just a few feet between them, Kai leapt up into the air and landed square on Samukai's shoulders. Samukai gave a yelp of surprise, and Kai pulled hard on his ears. He remembered play-fighting with his dad when he'd been smaller. Getting onto his shoulders, puling his hair and feeling like a champion. Samukai didn't have any hair to pull, but that didn't stop a man with a mission.

Kai covered Samukai's eyes and yanked backwards, making the man stumbled back. Kai kept going, feeling sick to his stomach about what would come next.

"You idiot!" Samukai yelled as he felt the rail of the walkway they were on, behind him. "You'll make us both go over!"

"Exactly." Kai said, as he kicked the railing, making the weak metal bend, giving the huge man all the room he needed to tip over and fall fifteen meters to the ground. Just as they were about to hit it, Kai let go of Samukai and pushed himself away from the giant, throwing himself across the room. Samukai landed on his back with a crash and lay unmoving, but still alive. Kai landed with a smack on the ground, against one of the giant crates. The room was now deserted, but Kai didn't even notice. He was struck by a searing pain in his forehead, and lay still.

...

"Kai? Kai!" Kai moaned and opened his eyes. The edge of his vision was tainted red.

"Huh? Jay?" He murmured.

"He's alive!" Jay exclaimed happily. "Jeez, what happened to you?!"

"Of course he's alive, he was breathing and bleeding." Cole said. He and Zane were also knelt over their friend. "What did happen, and does it have anything to do with the unconscious guy on the floor over there?"

Kai gave a nod, and tried to sit up. His head ached, and his forehead still stung. He lifted his hand to touch the source of the pain, and felt blood. He winced.

"Nasty cut." Zane confirmed. Kai looked around and saw he had cut his head on the broken shards of his gun. He wanted to laugh at the irony, but his forehead hurt too much.

"Where's Wu?" He muttered.

"We don't know." Cole told him. "But we need to get you back to the van."

Kai shook his head. "We've gotta find him." He said, sitting up properly, but slowly. "We don't leave members of our team behind."

Zane and Jay nodded, and Cole sighed again.

"Right. But how, this place is freaking huge!"

"I know how." Kai told him. "Over there, that door, it leads to a CCTV room. We can see every room in this place."

"Good idea." Jay told him with a grin. He and Zane helped Kai up and walked with him leaning on their shoulders. Cole moved ahead, his gun cautiously in his hands. But they made it to the CCTV room with no issues. Jay and Zane sat Kai down in an office chair and the four of them examined the screens. Kai noted that Nya's cell was now empty. They must have moved her. Drat.

"Guys, I've found Wu." Jay said eventually.

"Where?" Zane asked.

"There." Jay pointed, and everyone gasped. "But he's in real bad trouble."

...

Wu didn't see a way out. On one side, fifty or so, armed to the teeth Skulkins, young and fit. On the other side, an old, out of breath man with only a gun and a knife. Why the hell had he wanted the cash in the safe?! Oh yes, right, to pay the boys. Mission spoils and all that crap. Well, it looked like the only thing that would get spoiled on this mission was his body. He'd lived his life, many regrets, more than triumphs actually. But enough to keep him going. At least he'd die in battle, the way he was meant to go.

"Giving up, old man?" A skulkin sneered.

"No." Wu lied. They raised their guns and he prepared for the hot bullets to pierce his body.

"WU!" He heard a shout. Oh please no...

Jay ran forward, his loaded gun in his hands.

"Go chew on some less tough beef!" He shouted, and opened fire. He managed to cut down a good many of them before they fired back, but Cole and Zane (having re-loaded his gun) joined in. Wu knew he needed to protect them. It was what their parents would have wanted. He hurried to the battle.

"You three have got to go!" He shouted, firing. "We are no match for these guys!"

"Not a chance in hell." Cole replied, cutting down the Skulkin who was about to shoot Jay.

"We don't have a chance in hell!" Wu snapped. "I can keep them busy while you go back to the van and back to headquarters!"

"Get-" Cole was about to reply, but suddenly, a door just behind them was flung open and a single man marched through it, looking furious.

"What the hell is going on here?!" He thundered, but then his eyes fell on the old man, who was staring at him with an expression of shock.

"Garmadon!" He exclaimed.

For a moment, the two men just stared at each other. The Skulkin stared at their leader. The Elemental Force boys stared at each other. Then they moved back over to Kai, who was leaning against a wall. Zane had been shot right through the arm, but there were no incredibly serious casualties.

"Who's that?" Jay whispered, watching the new arrival with curiosity. His teammates shrugged.

"What are you doing here?" Garmadon demanded. He stepped forward.

Wu shrugged. "I didn't know you'd be here." He said.

"I told you never to show your face AGAIN!" Garmadon yelled in a sudden flare of anger. "And you JUST HAPPEN TO BE HERE? WHAT A CHANCE IN HELL THAT WAS!"

"I'll leave." Wu said, stepping backwards. "We can pretend this never happened!"

"TOO FUCKING LATE!" Garmadon yelled, bringing a pistol from under his jacket and pointing it at Wu.

"I told you never to show your face again, or I would shoot it!" He said in a low voice that was filled with malice. "After what you did to Lloyd."

"I didn't do shit to Lloyd!" Wu snapped, just as angry now. "I cared about your son just as much as you did!"

"What the hell is happening?" Kai muttered to no one in particular.

"Isn't it obvious?" Zane asked, keeping his hand tight over his bleeding arm. They all shrugged and he sighed. "They seem to be talking about Garmadon's son, Lloyd, who Wu cared for as well. He must be a relation, and I can hardly see these two as a gay couple; he would have said 'our son'; so they must be brothers and Lloyd is Wu's nephew."

"They don't look alike." Cole noted. "Hold on, no, they both have the same angry face."

"You took him away from me!" Garmadon thundered. "You made our relationship into this - bloodlust! Give me a reason not to shoot you where you stand!"

"Because I did nothing, you idiot!" Wu yelled back. Then he gave a sly grin. "And also, I'm armed." He brought his gun round and fired, but not as fast as Garmadon, whose gun was already in place. He fired three shots. The first was aimed at the head, the second at the heart and the third at Wu in general. But his hands were shaking so much that the first shot his a Skulkin behind Wu, the second his Wu in the shoulder and the third hit him in the ribs. He stumbled and choked, dropping his gun.

"Oh shit!" Cole gasped, and he ran forward. Garmadon gasped.

"New recruits!" He gave a short, harsh laugh. "I remember your grandfather on the battlefield. He was brave. Are you?" He raised the pistol.

"Brave enough for this." Cole snapped, slinging his arm under Wu's shoulders and dragging the old man away from his brother.

"We're leaving!" He shouted. "No one will stop us, is that clear?"

Garmadon grinned and gave a nod.

"Let them go." He commanded. "This battle's far from over!"

Jay joined Cole in helping Wu move. Zane and Kai followed them out, all four boys moving as fast as they could. A door labelled fire exit was to their right, and Zane lead them through into a concrete floored alley, and Cole lowered Wu to the ground. He was unconscious, and bleeding fast. Kai went to help, but he could feel his own cut opening up again, and had to wipe the blood out of his eyes.

Cole and Zane bent over Wu.

"Jay, help us, goddamit!" Cole snapped.

"He's going to bleed out!" Zane called, and Jay came to help.

"Who's got the first aid kit?" He asked.

"We left it in the van!" Zane groaned.

"Shit."

All these words floated around Kai's head as he felt his own blood under his fingers. He could hardly hear. He felt as if he was going to pass out. How had their mission gone so wrong?

"Kai, could you-" Zane turned to his friend, but Kai was leaning hard on the wall, panting. "Kai?"

Kai slumped to the ground.

 **Sorry it was so long, but I wanted to get it finished.**


	13. The Truth

**Whoo-hoo, an explanationary chapter at last, but I'm not giving everything away, there are still many things Wu isn't telling the ninja!**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: YOU'LL FIND OUT EVENTUALLY! :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Thank you :) There are a few more twists to come though!**

 **Cerenda: Whoa, thanks! I try :) Yep, Samukai's bad, but there are worse villains out there, and more of Garmadon's character will be shown later down the road, as will Elemental Force being the bad guys (a bit). Why, you shall find out later, my friend :)**

 **That's all for now, don't worry about me giving away too much in this chapter, there are more surprises and revelations to be made!**

Three teenage boys and two unconscious people were not the best getaway team. But they had made it back to the van eventually, Zane and Cole carrying Wu, and Jay basically dragging Kai. None of them knew the way back, but Cole had just driven them as far out of the city as they could go, and miraculously stumbled on the right area of desert. Cole had eventually parked the van, and, just as the sun began to rise, gotten the two patients inside.

He had then located a bullet removal handbook, and managed to perform an amateur operation on Wu, with Zane's help, though his arm was obviously still badly injured. It ended with Jay stitching up both Kai and Wu's wounds, as he was far more skilled at sewing than Cole.

It was done. All that was left was to hope and pray that no one died tonight.

...

Again, unconscious, injured, an unfamiliar bed. Kai moaned slightly and opened his eyes. He immediately shut them again, as the sunlight was blinding. He had a splitting headache and the pain was made worse in the light.

Eventually, Kai managed to peal his eyes open and sit up. He thought he was in his own bed at first, but then discovered he was in Zane's. Wondering why, he looked over at his own bed.

Blood all over the sheets. Pleasant. Perhaps this was a good place to rest after all. Kai them remembered why he had been unconscious in the first place. He reached to his forehead and lightly touched the place where his cut was. It was still there, the skin pulled roughly together by some lumpy, irregular stitches. He took his hand away, unwilling to find out what he looked like. He flattened his hair down over his forehead, put on a clean shirt, and went to find the others.

They were not hard to find. As Kai made his way down the hallway, leaning on the walls for support, he could hear Jay's excited voice, and smiled. It was coming from the ship's deck. Bracing himself, Kai opened the door and stepped out into the sunshine.

It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the sunlight, but Kai blinked and looked downward to the deck. There were the figures of Zane and Jay, laid down on the wooden deck. Jay appeared to be cloud gazing, calling out interesting shapes. Zane was reading a book, his arm in a rough sling.

"Hey." He called, making them both jump and Jay stop in mid-sentence. They turned around to see Kai coming over towards them.

"Hey buddy, you're looking well!" Jay exclaimed. "Bit of a mess, but well."

"Yeah, Jay's no expert at sewing." Zane told him, gesturing to Kai's stitches. "But it stopped the blood loss."

"Glad it did, because I feel weak as shit." Kai told him, flopping down on the deck beside Zane. Where's everyone else?"

"Cole's sitting with Wu, he's still out cold." Zane told him. "But I don't think he's dead, the bullet missed his lung, just cracked a few ribs."

"And your arm?"

"Feels OK, I've had some painkillers for it."

Kai lay down and looked at the sky. He remembered one day when he'd been younger, his parents taking him and his new baby sister out to the countryside for the day. The sky was so blue, dotted with the thin white clouds. The meadows to run on. Everything had been perfect. His parents had promised him that he would never have to fight for his happiness. It was odd Kai was just remembering this. They hadn't seemed like the sort of parents to abandon their children back then.

Maybe they never were.

"I'm a frigging coward." He muttered.

"What? What do you mean?" Zane asked.'

"Yeah, you were like, bow, kapow, take that Skulkin!" Jay cried. Kai rolled his eyes.

"My sister was in that warehouse." He told them. "I saw her, I could have saved her." He quickly ran his friends through the events that had lead to him being unconscious on the ground with a monster of a cut on his forehead.

"Whoa, you TOOK ON SAMUKAI!" Jay gasped. "He's like, a frigging giant!"

"How do you know, you never met Samukai?" Zane asked curiously.

"I, err, Wu told me about him." Neither Kai, nor Zane pushed this matter further. They were all hiding things.

"You couldn't do anything." Zane reassured Kai. "Samukai showed up before Nya could be rescued, and there will be other opportunities."

"But what if there aren't?" Kai asked, turning to Zane so he could look him in the eyes. "Samukai sounded like he was torturing her, she's only just fourteen! She's my baby sister! He could kill her as punishment!"

"Look, if Nya's still alive, they obviously still need her for something." Zane told Kai. "Garmadon won't let Samukai kill her."

"He could hurt her!" Kai protested. "And what the hell did I do to stop it?"

"You tried." Jay said in a surprisingly sombre tone. "And no one could have expected anything more."

The three of them were silent for a while, until they heard the door to the deck open and turned to see a tired looking Cole stood in the doorway.

"Wu's awake." He said. "And he wants to see us."

...

Though he was awake and his life was no longer in danger, Wu still looked...

Well, there was no other word for it really. Like shit.

"Good, you're all alright." Wu sighed. "It would have been a nightmare if I lost one of you on that mission!"

"And a nightmare for us, having to explain to Dareth how you illegally took us on a mission and got shot by your own brother in the process!" Jay exclaimed.

"You would have told him it was an accident." Wu said gravely. "You four would have gotten punished as well." He glanced at Kai. "How's your head?"

"It's good." Kai ran his fingers lightly over his stitches. "Jay made a mess of the stitching though."

"I tried my best!" Jay protested.

"Enough." Wu muttered, and sighed. "How did you know Garmadon was my brother?"

"Zane guessed." Cole told him. Wu sighed again.

"Is it true?" Zane asked, and Wu nodded.

"It is."

"Whoa!" Jay exclaimed. "So, like, you grew up together, but you're in warring gangs, so you-" Cole kicked him.

Wu gave a nod.

"I suppose you all have a lot of questions." He asked. They nodded.

"How come you and Garmadon are brothers, but are enemies?" Jay asked.

"Who was Lloyd and what happened to him?" Zane inquired.

"What happened back at the mission?" Cole asked. "How come the Skulkins were in boxes?"

"What happened back at the Chen event, and what are the Elemental Tasers?" Kai said. This made Wu frown, but his eyes lit up mysteriously.

"Well, I suppose I'd better start at the beginning..."

"I was born as the second child to a wealthy businessman." Wu began, and the boys sat down to listen to the story. "By the name of Mr First. My brother, Garmadon, three years older. We were well provided for, even though our mother died when I was still a baby. We would have got equal shares of his business, and become business partners. At that age, we got on well, but of course, we wanted something greater, a bit more on the wild side.

We got into criminal gangs as older teenagers, and secretly rose through the ranks of our separate gangs throughout the years. I became a well trusted advisor to the leader of Elemental Force, and I later found out that Garmadon had become leader of the Skulkins.

Our father knew nothing of this, of course. He tried to fight crime and poverty, set up the company that Kai worked in to provide for his sister." He nodded at Kai, who was listening intently. They all were. "He was a great inventor. He also invented something else four somethings in fact. The Elemental Tasers. They were going to be the greatest weapons the police force had against the criminal gangs. He created working prototypes and was going to send them off to the police force for mass production. Of course, me and my brother couldn't have that. I planned on stealing the prototypes from his office, but my brother did something much more sinister. He poisoned him, let me, my father himself and everyone in the city, believe that he died of food poisoning. Well it was, poison. I didn't find out for years."

"Ouch." Muttered Cole. "Your brother sounds like a dick."

Wu smiled a little, before continuing his story. "Back then, me and my brother got on well, the Skulkins and Elemental Force weren't even at war yet! We decided that no one should have the Elemental Tasers, and left them in our father's desk, in a storage locker. They're not still there of course, but that's later down the line.

Many years after our father's passing, my brother and his wife (she's left him by now) gave birth to a baby boy. My nephew. Lloyd." Wu took a breath before continuing. "To protect his identity, all of our identities, my brother had stopped going by his birth name, Garmadon First, and started pretending Garmadon was his last name, Mr. G to his gang. Lloyd's last name was officially made Lloyd Garmadon."

"What happened to him?" Zane asked softly.

"You'll find out." Wu said. "I knew Lloyd, I kept in contact with my brother, I watched him grow up, until he was about ten years old. Then Garmadon's wife left him and his son, and that's when he started to sink into himself a bit. Our different gangs were starting to argue other criminal territory, fights were breaking out. To protect ourselves, Garmadon broke contact with me, and I agreed. I wouldn't see Lloyd again for over two years."

At this point, Wu had to pause before continuing. Kai felt a sick feeling in his stomach, he knew this couldn't be good.

"Next comes the Chen Event." Wu said slowly, in a low tone. "One of the worst, most bloody nights of my life. The start of the gang war." He paused again. "The last time I saw Lloyd."

"What happened?" Asked Kai. Wu took in a breath.

"It all stared when the Skulkins kidnapped the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, Alistair Chen. Something about ransom money."

"My parents work for him." Jay noted.

"Yes, he's still wealthy and powerful to this day. And an asshole, I might add. The Skulkins asked for ransom money, which everyone knew he could afford. It was his daughter, after all! She was four years old. This was almost ten years ago now. Anyway, Chen had just gone into serious debt, and paying over two million pounds to the Skulkins would worsen his economic condition. So he refused to pay."

"His own daughter?!" Jay exclaimed. Wu nodded.

"His own daughter. And the Skulkins had promised to kill her if they did not receive payment." The four listening boys gasped. "We had heard about this by now, and decided to intervene. We invaded the Skulkin gang's headquarters, which was coincidentally where Lloyd and Garmadon were living. I was determined not to hurt either of them, but it was still the worst night of my life." Wu shuddered momentarily, then continued. "Kai's parents had already left us by now, they wanted their children to grow up away from the violence."

Kai scoffed. "That worked!" He said sarcastically.

"And Jay was already up for adoption, or adopted, I'm not too sure. Anyway, bad idea, bad night. The start of a bloody and brutal gang war. I was stabbed through the leg fifteen times that night." He said quietly. The boys all winced. "Yes, it is occaisionally still painful. Anyway, I had decided, this was enough, so crawling away with my damaged leg, I headed to an alley to get away. The battle had erupted onto the street by now. When I was almost there, a figure ran past me, too short to be a gang member. It was Lloyd. His face had been badly cut by some broken glass and he was holding the rags of his jumper to his face, already stained with his blood. He was twelve years old."

The boys all shuddered and remembered the previous night. They couldn't imagine a boy younger than themselves going through that.

"I tried to help him, he was my nephew after all, but he pushed me away. I couldn't tell if he even recognised me as his uncle. He shouted at me to fuck off, and ran away into the night. He was never seen again."

The boys gasped. Wu gave a sombre nod.

"Do you think he's... dead?" Jay asked nervously.

"Who knows?" Wu sighed. "He was bleeding badly. I got away from the violence, and to a hospital where they fixed my leg. I pretended that I'd been mugged. The next day, Garmadon called me, sounding desperate. He said Lloyd had disappeared.

By this time, I was through. I said some pretty nasty things and called my brother a terrible father. I said I was glad Lloyd was no longer living with him. I mistook this to mean that I'd kidnapped him, and long story short, he said he would destroy what our father created with what our father created, and hung up the phone."

"You mean-" Zane gasped. Wu nodded.

"He was going to kill me with the Elemental Tasers. I got myself straight to that storage locker and met him there. I found out he poisoned father. There was a fight, but I managed to win, even with my bad leg. I let him go and took the Elemental Tasers with me. Not back to base, I didn't want anyone to use them." He turned to Kai. "I took them to your parents, to hide. They took them. Little did I know, I had sealed their fate."

"Their fate?" Kai whispered, feeling slightly faint again. "What do you mean?"

"I was being watched." Wu sighed. "By Garmadon. He sent Skulkins to your parent's house. I don't know what happened there, but that was the night they disappeared."

Kai felt something choke up his throat. He tried for a few moments to clear it, then took a deep breath.

"You mean, they didn't abandon us?" He asked. Wu gave a shrug. "The likelihood is, no. Of course, I don't know for sure..."

"Excuse me." Kai muttered, standing up.

"Yeah, we should all leave you to rest." Cole said to Wu. "Come on guys."

"Since when did you become a doctor?" Jay asked.

"Since people needed one-" Kai wasn't listening. He turned and ran, out of the room, down the hallway, to the front door of the ship. He ran off into the desert and eventually found some rocks, baked warm by the early afternoon sun. Here he sat, curled into a ball, and just laughed. Tears streaming down his face, he laughed and laughed hard. His parents hadn't abandoned them! They had loved him! And Nya! They never meant for him to go through this!

Kai laughed again and wiped his eyes. He looked up into the sun, at it's Rays for which his father had been named.

"I'll find you." He whispered. "Wherever you are, mum and dad, I'll find you. I promise."


	14. Frames and Zoos

**Hehe, glad you all enjoyed the last chapter :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: I'm not sure whether or not Skylor will be in this, but I'll see what I decide :) And I can't tell you about Lloyd because, well, SPOILERS!**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yep, this will effect him, but maybe in a more motivational way. And you'll find out where Lloyd ran off to eventually, if he's even alive! :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: We already discussed a lot through PM, but yeah, pretty much :)**

 **Cerenda: No matter how evil, he always cared about his son. Well, until SoG! :( And Chen's always been an evil little b******. I'm glad someone picked up on Jay's sudden knowledge, it's kind of important. Whoa, thank you so much, never gotten that before! :)**

 **And on with the story!**

Almost ten years had passed since the biggest event and start of the gang war, and the Ninjago City police department were keeping a steady eye out for trouble.

"Two days!" Announced police chief commissioner, Misako Gordon. "Then something bad will happen. I can FEEL it!"

"If only you guys had gotten those weapons First promised!" Sneered the chief bounty hunter/vigilante/common thief, Ronin Starlock. "Then you'd be able to do something about all this!"

Misako glared at him, and he shrank back in his chair. Though Misako was in her fifties, she was pretty scary. Especially this time of year, when she seemed more agitated than usual.

"So I want eyes on the streets!" Misako continued, striding up and down in front of the team of police officers. "Anything suspicious, an Elemental Force jacket, a Skulkin motorbike, photograph, report and tail, do you understand?"

They all nodded their heads.

"Good. Ronin, I would like to see you in my office." Ronin stood up and followed Misako through a separate door, as everyone else left for lunch.

"So, what's up, Mrs M?" He asked coolly, examining the framed newspaper cuttings Misako had hung all over her office wall. Mainly Skulkin activity through the last ten years. "Got a special job for me?"

"As a matter of fact..." Misako went over to the large window, beckoning Ronin to follow her. He came over and the pair looked through.

"Nice view." Ronin commented.

"Shut up." Misako told him. "And look down there." She pointed. Across the street from the police department, there was the Ninjago City zoo, a friendly, small park where children came to look at animals, usually the small and less dangerous kind.

"Whoa, you don't even have to buy a ticket to visit the zoo!" Ronin exclaimed, bringing a telescope out of his pocket and zooming in down on the animals in the cages. He laughed. "Man, that's a good quality window!"

"I didn't bring you here to watch the monkeys!" Misako snapped, and Ronin put the telescope away. "Look, down at that shed near the zebra."

Ronin looked.

"It's a shed." He told her.

"Very well done." Misako said dryly. "But I have noticed something throughout the past few days. Men, on motorbikes, a different one each time, show up, buy a ticket and enter with no kids. They always have a bag, and it's the same bag. They go in the shed, come out a few minutes later, and leave. It happens every day."

"Do you think they're hiding something?" Ronin asked.

"No Ronin. Someone. It must be food in the bag. And by the looks of the bikes, they're Skulkin."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Ronin asked her, looking down at the children in the zoo. Anyone of the could be his.

"Find whoever's in there, get them out, bring them to me."

"Sounds simple enough." Ronin gave a nod. "And if I succeed, will you review my custody battle."

"No, I'll pay you, as usual."

Ronin wanted to kick a hole through Misako's precious window, but then he probably wouldn't get any form of payment. And it wasn't like he was the only bounty hunter.

"I've been working for you for five years!" Ronin told her. "At the beginning, you promised you would make sure I got to see my kids. That hasn't happened!"

Misako sighed and ran her hand through her greying hair. "Fine, Ronin. I too know the pain of losing a child. I do have one job, not an official one, but I want it doing. Can you keep a secret?"

"Mrs M, I've been stealing cars since I was sixteen years old, I think I can keep crimes a secret." Misako sighed and brought out a photograph from her desk. It was of an old man, getting out of a van and wearing a black and gold leather jacket.

"This man did wrong to me, a very long time ago." Misako told him.

"So you want me to bring him to you?"

"No. I want you to kill him."

...

"Score!" Kai jumped up and down in his success.

"Not only are you good at video games, you have to be good at darts as well!" Jay sighed.

"Come on Zane, let's kick their asses!" Kai cried. Zane gave him a high five as Cole stepped up to the dart board. Over the past few days, the boys had been training, occasionally tending to Wu and playing darts. The games console was gathering dust.

They were growing up.

"How many days left until the Chen mission?" Kai asked Zane.

"Two." Zane replied. Kai sat back and watched Cole shoot. Zane studied him closely. He would have thought Kai would draw into himself after hearing Wu's news of his parents, maybe become the old, moody person he was before, but no, Kai was as friendly as ever, maybe even more so. Perhaps covering for pain felt inside? The only way to find out was to ask, which was something Zane was not prepared to do. And who was he to give someone advice on family problems?

"Boys!" They jumped to see Wu in the doorway, leaning on the wooden doorframe, but nevertheless, looking more well than he had in a long time.

"Wu!" Cole exclaimed, messing up his throw and hitting the window instead. "You look better!"

"Feel better too." Wu gave him a nod. "I can see you're preparing to fit in with your fellow gang members, good. But I need you to pack up your stuff. We have to get out of here!"

"What!" Jay exclaimed." Why?"

"I just got an emergency call from Mr Brown. His spies have overheard Skulkin talking about an Elemental Force van driven out into the desert, and... Mr G has sent patrols out looking for us."

"Shit!" Gasped Cole. "We best get a bloody move on then. But are you in a fit shape to drive?"

"No." Wu told him. "Who drove you all back from our mission?" He looked expectantly at Cole.

"Jay did." Cole replied. "He's been driving since he could see over the wheel." Wu was clearly surprised at this, but Jay grinned modestly.

"Very well. Jay drives. Go, grab whatever we need. We leave in fifteen minutes."

...

Zane had his pyjamas, his clothes, his favourite weapons, his uniform jacket and packed food for the journey within five minutes. Leaving the others to talk and pack, he slipped out of the room and went along the corridor of the ship. It had been his home for almost three weeks now, and he had to admit, he was kind of sorry to leave. As he made his way along the wooden corridors towards the deck, bag in hand, he realised that there was so much of the place he had yet to explore. Well, he had ten minutes. May as well make the most of it.

Zane changed direction and opened a random door on his left. At first, it was all dark in there, then his eyes adjusted to the light. A small room, which had no furniture, but seemed to be covered in picture frames. Zane squinted and looked. He gasped. There was a younger looking Mr Brown, stood with a younger looking Wu. Their names were labelled, as were their gang positions. Zane moved onto the next frame. An older man than Wu, with a few other people. He bore a striking resemblance to Cole, and was labelled as Cornelius Brookestone. The next frame, Olivia Gordon, who didn't look a lot like Jay, but Zane moved on. A man and a woman, Kai seemed an equal mix of both. Ray and Maya Smith. Again, Zane wondered about Kai, and how losing his parents had really effected him. But he moved on to the next photo.

A couple he didn't recognise, or did he? A brown haired man, who seemed familiar. A laugh sounded in Zane's head, that seemed to match the man's lips exactly. And the woman, she seemed kind, somehow, even though she wasn't smiling and gave no impression of that. They were labelled Richard and Martha Julien.

Zane rubbed his head angrily. Those names, he hadn't bothered to ask Wu about, was he related to them? But he didn't know them! He didn't know anything, not about his past, his parents. Were they his parents? Were they strangers? Had he ever been related to someone in Elemental Force?

Zane knew he should ask Wu these questions, but didn't want to put the old man through any more, and besides, if he knew, wouldn't he have told him?

"Zane!" He heard a shout. "Where are you, we're ready to leave!"

Zane turned to leave, but then thought again. He couldn't bare to see a Skulkin get their hands on these pictures, a small snippet of Wu's sentimentality. Quickly, he grabbed the four pictures of his friends parents and the (un)familiar couple off the wall and shoved them into his bag.

"Coming!" He called and ran to the deck. The van was there, Jay behind the wheel, beeping the horn impatiently.

"Shut that thing up!" Wu snapped from the passenger seat. "Do you want them to find us?"

Zane scrambled into the back.

"Got everything you need?" Kai asked.

"Yes." Zane replied. 'I hope.' He thought to himself.

 **I'm sorry if this was boring, but the next one will be filled with action! :)**


	15. The Elemental Force Headquarters

**Some action to go down at last! Thanks to you all for your reviews to the last chapter, a better response than I expected for that :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Yes, Lloyd is older than the other guys, by quite a few years. I wasn't originally going to bring her into it, but after an idea presented from another reader, I decided to. I only made her last name Gordon because I thought the actual commissioner's surname is Gordon, but I could be wrong. Thanks, your review reassured me :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Not long at all! :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: I didn't actually have jackets planned for the Skulkins. And Lloyd's jacket wasn't planned to be anything special, but I do have another jacket type feature planned... As for the zoo prisoner, you'll find out if it's Nya or not :)**

 **Cerenda: Yep, she's one scary woman! But Ronin's just as cool as ever :) As I've said with MasterofCupcakes, Misako's surname isn't meant to be in relation to Jay's, but after the real commissioner of Ninjago. And the police are kind of important later! :) Ronin did always strike me as a sort of bounty hunter character, which Skybound did inspire a little. And Kai/Zane bromance is going to be pretty deep, because in theory, neither of them have anyone else. But I shall reveal his parent's fates... eventually. :)**

It was a long, hectic and slow drive to the main Elemental Force headquarters, because Jay was too scared of being stopped by the police to go anywhere near the speed limit. They were all scared, they had only just slipped the clutches of Elemental Force and their best fighter was in no condition to fight and their only driver, their weakest fighter.

"Left." Wu told Jay as the nervous teenager brought the van away from the highway. They were now driving along a narrow road lined with tall, dingy brick buildings.

"OK, sharp turn coming up, you'll have to swing the van round pretty quick." Wu grunted as Jay gripped the wheel. "OK, NOW!" Jay swung the van around, sending Cole, Kai and Zane crashing into one of the van's walls.

"Watch it!" Kai cried as Zane's bag hit him in the face. "Argh, what have you GOT in there?!"

"You know, just stuff." Zane answered as he van came to a stop. "Why have we stopped?"

"Because we're here." Wu replied. "Get out, we've got to go the rest of the way on foot."

The boys threw open the van doors and hopped out, bags in hand. They appeared to in the bottom floor of one of the tall, run down buildings, a large hole in the wall that jay had just driven through.

"This doesn't look like a secret headquarters." Cole noted.

"That's because it isn't." Wu replied. "It's simply where we park the car. Come on." He turned towards another hole in the wall, a smaller one, one that looked like it was knocked for people to walk through. The five of them did just that. Wu led the boys into the next door building, which was equally as trashed and grafittied. Artist such as CUPCAKEMASTER2800 and CHEESEPUFFS4LIFE had definitely been there.

"Nice place." Jay noted, examining a cleverly drawn picture by THE DRAGON IS RANDOM. "Is this-"

"No." Wu said. "And all these artists are just Elemental Force members trying to make the place look trashed so people don't look at it too closely. Over there, see that badly drawn guy surrounded by Smurfs? That was me."

"CERENDA YOUR GOLD." Kai read aloud. "Nice tagging name." Wu ignored him and pointed upstairs. "Up there, that's the way. No not the stairs! They've never been safe, honestly Jay, use your head. There's a ladder there."

"Can you make it up?" Cole asked.

"It'll be a bit of a struggle, but I'll make it." Wu replied. It didn't take him too long to scale the ladder, but he was noticeably slower than the boys. He then pointed out of a top floor window. "We go that way."

"Are you insane!" Zane exclaimed. "We're four stories up!"

"Look closer." Wu limped over to the window and they all peered out. There was a thick clothes line stretching a long, long way down into the dark of the night, across a disused road and connecting to another building across it. The line went straight into the brick wall and there were no windows, so it still looked pretty dangerous.

"We have to slide down that?" Jay squeaked. Wu nodded.

"It's a very secure entrance. I've just have to radio for them to expect us..." He turned to a blank, plastered wall and punched it. There was a walkie talkie inside.

"Hello?" Wu said into it. "This is RebelEight, requesting entry. There's five of us."

"Password?" The boys heard someone say at the other end.

"There is no password, idiot!"

"Right you are. We're waiting for you." Wu placed the walkie talkie back in place and picked up a large chunk of plaster from the floor that he boys hadn't noticed before. He placed it over the hole. "They'll replace it." He said.

"Seriously? That's the password?" Kai didn't quite believe it.

"The password is to insult the person on the other end." Wu told them. He then got up onto the window still.

"The entry is very easy once you get the hang of it." Wu said as the boys froze in shock. "Just remember, stick your feet out and when you feel your feet kick something, let go of your head will smack into the wall.

"Right." Cole said, not sounding particularly reassured. "So we're going head first, are we?"

"Of course not." Wu grabbed a flowered shirt off the clothes line and put his hands over it. "Just watch and follow."

And then he jumped.

For a moment, the boys were paralysed in shock. Then they rushed to the window.

"Seriously, did being shot mess up his mental state?" Jay asked, earning himself a small slap from Cole. Wu's figure sped down the clothes line, right towards the wall.

"He's gonna crash!" Cole exclaimed, covering his face.

Kai thought so too, but kept watching as the old man stuck his feet out, hit the wall and...

Disappeared.

"Whoa." Kai stated. "Where the heck did he go?"

"Only one way to find out, I suppose." Zane said, climbing onto the window still, clutching his bag.

"Zane, you can't be SERIOUS!" Jay exclaimed. Zane grabbed some jeans from the clothes line and put them over his hands.

"Why not?" He asked. "Wu's a smart guy, he's not going to just jump off a cliff."

And then he was gone.

"Zane!" Kai shouted as he watched his friend speed towards the wall. He saw Zane kick his feet out, yet brace himself for impact.

Then there was a small flash of light from the wall, then he disappeared, just like Wu.

"I think he's OK." Kai said, climbing onto the window still. "Follow me down, trust me."

"OK. Your funeral." Jay told him.

"And yours. We're all going." Kai told him, grabbing with disgust, a pair of lime green boxers to put over his hands. "Wish me luck."

He leapt.

For a minute, it was pure wind in his face and fear in his chest. Then he remembered Wu's instructions. Stick out your feet and, what was that other one?

Let go when you feel yourself kick something.

Kai felt his feet connect with something and, saying a silent prayer, let go.

For a moment, he felt like he was going to die, teetering on the edge of survival and a fall to his death. Then a hand grabbed his flailing one and he was pulled away from the edge of death and into the light.

Kai found himself sat on the floor of a large and homely looking room, well lit and full of people. Zane was grasping his hand, looking relieved.

"You let go a bit too early there, my boy." Mr Brown, or Dareth said with his vast smile. "Gave us a bit of a fright."

Kai looked behind him and all his questions were answered. What he had previously thought was a solid and painful bright wall was in fact, a large, brick wall coloured cat flap, that he had kicked his way through and swung into through the clothes line.

"Clever entrance." He sighed, and had been unaware he'd been holding his breath.

"Best get away from the entrance before Jay comes along and kicks you in the head." Wu warned. Kai scrambled backwards and Zane helped him up.

"Thanks!" He gasped. "I was pretty scared then!"

"So was I!" Zane replied. "That's one fair ground ride I do NOT want to ride again!"

Suddenly, the cat flat was kicked open again and Jay and Cole were both deposited onto the floor, looking shocked.

"Glad you could make it." Wu told them as he shut the flap and bolted it shut. "Well boys, welcome to the official Elemental Force headquarters."

Kai gazed around the room. It wasn't large, but was comfortable, and reminded him of a bar crossed with a youth club. There was a pool table, mini fridges, comfy chairs and a boarded up door that had a dartboard pinned to the back of it.

"Sweet digs!" Jay exclaimed. "I wonder if the Skulkin have something like this!" They laughed and went to sit down, bags in hand.

"I wonder where we sleep?" Cole said, going through his bag. "I brought something you forgot, Jay!" He grinned, emerging with a little blue teddy in hand. Jay gasped and flushed bright red, snatching the bear from Cole's hand and shoving it in his pocket as the others laughed. He sighed.

"How could I have left you behind." He sighed, rubbing the teddy's head fondly. "Thank you Cole."

"No problem, bear boy." Cole grinned, making Jay scowl.

"That reminds me." Zane said, reaching into his bag. "I found these back at the ship. I think Wu didn't want them to be found, but I feel we should have them."

He brought out three framed photographs, handing one to each of his friends.

"So that's my real mother." Jay muttered. "Hmm."

"That's my granddad alright." Cole muttered happily. "My mum has loads of pictures."

"Who are these people?" Kai asked. Zane looked at the photo he'd given him and gasped, because it was of Richard and Martha Julien, not of Ray and Maya Smith.

"Oh, err, here's yours." Zane grabbed the other one back and thrust Kai's into his hands. He glanced at it, then turned his attention to Zane, who was hurriedly shoving his own into his bag.

"Who were those people?" He asked. Zane sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know. Wu probably does but, I'm not brave enough to ask."

"We'll ask with you." Cole said, and Zane had been unaware that the other two were listening, and blushed.

"Yeah, we're your friends." Jay told him. "After the Chen event, let's go!" Zane nodded, but kept the photo in his bag. Kai was examining his parents and Zane was about to state the likeness between him and his father, when the door rattled so hard the dartboard fell off.

"OPEN UP!" They heard. "POLICE!"

"Shit!" Wu gasped, but Dareth frowned and came away from the door. He slid back a small hatch covering a gap in the wall and gasped, slamming it shut again.

"It's not the police!" He cried. "It's the Skulkin!"

"Right you are, Mr Brown." They heard a chilling voice say, and the door seemed to explode open. A hail of bullets flew through the door and hit someone very hard, sending him flying into the wall.

"NO!" Kai screamed.

 **Haha, cliffhanger! ;)**


	16. Brown Limousine (Ronin gets lucky)

**Hehe, I knew you'd like that graffiti :)**

 **Cheesepuff fg: Yes it was and yes you are (now) :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: That was a detail I didn't think many people would pick up on, but I suppose so. I think that was sweet with the teddy :) Well, wait no more, my cupcakey friend, for chapter sixteen comes right now! :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yeah, a little, and I guessed someone might pick up on that - well done :) I'm glad you enjoyed, it was kind of spur of the moment, but I'm glad I did as well :)**

 **Cerenda: Well, I check out the profiles of most of my reviewers, so I did discover and remember your love for smurfs :) I never thought of it with Papa Smurf! Yeah, Papa is the Smurf version of Wu in this, kind of similar in looks and their 'responsible' attitude. That is a clever password, which you're welcome to use for whatever secret, smurf appreciation club you may run. Though you may be a bit more polite to your members :)**

 **Well, ze surprise shall be revealed... :)**

 **Sorry, but I think I tricked you all a bit with the last chapter :) Not as serious as it sounds.**

For a moment, several moments, no one moved.

It seemed like no one in that room would ever move again.

Then the door was kicked open to the secret gang headquarters and Skulkin began to storm the place. People began screaming, grabbing guns, looking desperately for a way out, but there was none. They were surrounded.

Kai sat on his beanbag, completely stupefied. He looked towards the figure that had been thrown across the room by bullets, barely conscious and bleeding.

Then his brows furrowed in confusion. The bullets had come straight through the door, heading straight for Cole, but Cole himself was sat on the floor a few feet away breathing hard and looking scared.

So who had been shot then?

He heard Wu gasp in shock. "Dareth!"

The leader of Elemental Force lay against the wall, his hands on his chest, struggling to breathe.

"The fuck?" Cole exclaimed, going over to him. "You, you took a bullet for me?"

"Took several, by the looks of it." Zane muttered as Wu and the boys joined Dareth. The bleeding man shook his head.

"Just a graze, old boy, just a graze." He grinned, then gasped in pain.

"That's a deep graze then." Kai said. "We need to get out of here."

"We're completely surrounded though!" Jay reminded them.

"And under attack." Wu gasped, grabbing a discarded gun from the floor and firing at some Skulkin. He called over to two men, who were re-loading their guns. "Shade! Turner! Get over here!" The men jumped and hurried over when they saw the state that their leader was in. They both wore the iconic Elemental Force Jackets, with their colours being light grey and maroon.]

"Jesus, what happened?!" The one called Turner exclaimed.

"What the hell do you think?" The one called Shade snapped at him. "What do you need Wu?"

"You two need to cut a path so me, Cole and Kai get Mr Brown out of here, through the front door Griffin, idiot." Griffin Turner rolled his eyes, but gripped his gun and the two men went ahead.

"Zane, Jay, cover us at the sides!" Wu commanded, as he gently pulled Dareth upwards and he and Cole slung their arms under his shoulders to carry him. Kai watched their backs, as Wu and Cole seemed to be doing fine with carrying Dareth. No one really seemed to notice them leaving; the battle was raging far too fiercely for that. Kai saw their abandoned bags lying to one side, filled with the objects of sentiment they had chosen to bring. Jay's teddy. The shirt he'd been wearing when Nya was taken. The photos.

The last remnants of their former selves. There was no way Kai was leaving that behind.

"Kai, where are you-" Zane asked.

"I'll catch you up!" Kai shouted and made a mad dash fro the bags. He grabbed the photos, his shirt (which he tied around his neck), Jay's bear, which he pocketed and a couple of items from Zane and Cole's backpacks. He shoved them all into Zane's bag and turned to leave.

He came face to face with Samukai.

It was a rather unwelcome confrontation, as both of them gasped and stared at each other. Both were pretty much unarmed and in shock, remembering their last encounter.

"You!" Samukai exclaimed.

"Me!" Kai snapped, looking wildly for an escape. He found it, and dived between Samukai's legs, getting immediately to his feet and making a beeline for the door before Samukai even had chance to turn round. He had stupidly dropped his gun, but all the Skulkin seemed to be in the room he had just left, so he got down the building's rickety stairs and out of the door unchallenged. He saw the others outside, and Dareth's brown limousine under a nearby building; a similar car park structure to where their own van was parked.

"Everyone in!" Wu called. "They've probably sent for reinforcements!" Kai hurried forwards and climbed into the car after Shade. Griffin Turner was in the driver's seat, and just looked briefly behind him to see that everyone was inside, then put the pedal to the metal and drove. Kai was pinned against the leather seat with the sudden burst of speed.

"Idiot! Slow down!" Wu cried at Dareth clutched the seat of his already bloodied car.

"We shouldn't... leave them behind..." He panted. "All the guys."

"We need to get away." Wu said gently, but firmly. Dareth gave another moan of pain.

"We need to get to a hospital!" Jay exclaimed, looking at his leader's bloodied clothing.

"And get arrested? There must be another headquarters somewhere, like a backup place, right Wu?" Cole asked anxiously. Wu sighed.

"There is. It's where you boys were trained and has now been found by the Skulkin." He said miserably.

"So there's no safe place?" Zane was the only one who had the guts to admit the truth. Then Shade cleared his throat.

"Perhaps, to be discreet, we go to a regular home. I happen to know a guy who isn't in a gang, but is still a little rough around the edges. And he has a medical degree."

"Are you sure we can trust this guy?" Wu asked nervously. Shade gave a nod.

"He was my roommate for a while, he knows about Elemental Force and Skulkin stuff. We can trust him."

"Good, 'cos this is painful!" Dareth grunted. "Move over Griffin, give the wheel to Shade."

...

Ronin was having a normal, stress filled, evening, eating microwave lasagne and wondering how to track down the guy Misako had sent him after.

No such bloody luck with that.

Ronin sighed and ran his hands through his hair. His wife would have said he needed a haircut, and cut it for him, to save money.

Back before she died. And he was deemed an 'inappropriate father'. And his children got taken away. Ronin knew his only hope was to find and kill this, Wu person, but he hadn't a clue how to do it.

"Ronin!" A sudden and violent knock at his door made him jump. He dropped his dinner to the table and hurried over to the door.

"Alexie?" He called. "That you?"

"Yeah, keep your effing voice down." Shade snapped. "Still got that medical degree?"

"I was thinking about selling it on Ebay."

"Let me in. We're gonna need it." Ronin, worried that Shade was hurt, undid the bolts on the door to his apartment. The door was kicked open and Shade hurried in, but he was not alone. A man covered in blood was then rushed in, supported by a teenage boy and another man with reddish hair. Then three more teenagers, then...

Ronin had never been lucky, not once in his life. But here, in his apartment, the very man Misako had sent him to kill! And he had no idea!

Perhaps Fate was on his side at last.

"Err, what the heck happened?" He asked.

"Gang stuff." Shade said bluntly. "Mr Brown's in bad shape, we need you to tend to him."

"Oh, um, right." Ronin was still pretty shocked by his target casually shutting the door and doing up the bolts to his own home. Then he shook the surprise off and snapped into medical mode.

"Right, my first aid kit's in the wardrobe, just through there, one of you boys get that, then we need..."

Secretly, Ronin was smiling the biggest smile he had ever smiled. When it came to his family, he always found a way, no matter how dastardly, he always found a way.


	17. Cole's secret indulges

**Who else is SUPER HYPED for Season 9?! I know I am! :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: OK then :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Aww, he deserves a hug I think :) No, things aren't too good for the Elemental Force right now, but they're about to get a WHOLE lot worse!**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yes, they do seem to be very unlucky, and Ronin is the guy they want to save their leader's life! :) Thank you, I try :)**

 **Cerenda: Thanks, I like to develop the gang scene over time, to get it revealed in little pieces :) Shade and Griffin have always been some of my favourite minor characters, so why not :) Dareth always struck me to have good potential and in Season 7, his hero side was shown, kind of. But Dareth has WAY more hero stuff to come, believe me! Hmm, never thought about that, but perhaps :)**

 **Anyhow, onto the decision of Ronin Starlock...**

Kai lifted his head. He hadn't really been asleep, just sort of dozing. The sofa was uncomfortable and already held himself, Jay (curled up at the end), Zane (sat up, but still asleep) and Shade. Kai wasn't sure if he was asleep or just staring into space. Kai looked across at the beaten armchair, on which Griffin Turner was asleep. Wu was sat with Dareth in Ronin's spare bedroom. Cole and Ronin himself were nowhere to be seen.

Kai didn't know why, but he didn't quite trust Ronin. He gently shifted himself off the sofa, stretched and stood up. Then he reached for his jacket and the little gun atop of it. He wasn't taking any chances.

Kai crept into the kitchen, gun in his clammy hand. Someone was in here, he could hear them. He gently crept around the counter to see someone crouched down by a cupboard, and the gentle sound of chewing.

"Cole?" He guessed. Cole jumped and span around, a kitchen knife in one hand, a box of pop tarts in the other. Kai laughed.

"Secret indulges?" He grinned. Cole sighed.

"You got me! I was looking for cake, but he doesn't seem to have any."

"I miss cake." Kai told him. "The day Nya was... the day Wu found me, I brought her cake. We were going to share it, as a family." He sighed. "Now my family seems to big that we'd need a whole cake to feed them. But there's someone missing."

"You'll find her." Cole put his sticky hand on Kai's shoulder. "Trust me, you'll find her. Pop tart?"

"No thanks." Kai said. He poured himself a glass of water. The two ate/drank in silence for a few minutes.

"Where's Ronin?" Kai asked. Cole shrugged, and put the pop tarts down.

"I haven't seen him, but..." He leaned close to Kai. "I don't quite trust the guy, if you know what I mean." Kai nodded in agreement and Cole looked relived.

"I do know what you mean. He's just got this... shady look about him. And when we came in, he looked really surprised, did you notice?"

"I dying man and multiple hangers on just came into his apartment. I'd be pretty shocked myself."

"No, I mean, yeah that would be a shock, but he kind of looked pleased too, didn't you notice?"

Cole shook his head.

"Anyhow, I don't trust him."

"Should we warn the others?"

Kai shook his head.

"Let's investigate first." The two held their weapons and crept through a doorway, leading to a bedroom. This was empty, or seemed to be. Cole pressed a finger to his lips and pointed to a figure, crouched in the dark, shifting through a box.

Some light glinted off a large collection of guns and knives.

"Ronin?" Cole exclaimed. Ronin jumped, grabbed something out of the box, turned and fired.

"Son of a bitch!" Cole screamed, grabbing his shoulder. Ronin seemed to think Cole was alone, as he straightened up. Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind as Kai stood on the bed, getting there in lightning speed. He pressed his gun to Ronin's head.

"Drop your effing weapon." He whispered into the other man's ear.

Ronin quickly bent himself into a bow, flipping Kai right over his back and landing him on the floor. He then jumped over Kai and ran out of the doorway.

"Are you OK?" Cole asked, clutching his injured shoulder.

"I'm fine." Kai said with a wince. "You?"

"Could be worse." Cole helped him up. "But we were right about Ronin."

"We have to warn the others!"

...

Wu had never cared for Dareth that much. True, Dareth was a brilliant fighter, a strong leader and a good man, but the two hadn't had a strong, friendly relationship. But now, with Ronin's words that Dareth's survival was a slim chance, Wu didn't know what he'd do without him. And so close to the anniversary of Lloyd's passing, no less. In twenty four hours time, they were expected to be doing the Chen raid. No chance of that now!

Wu jumped as the door was thrown open and Ronin marched in.

"What is it?" He asked, surprised. Ronin looked worried, and he was holding a gun.

"Are you wearing body armour?" He asked nervously.

"No. Why?"

"Good." Ronin gave a psychotic grin and fired. Wu had amazing reflexes, and managed to dive to the side just in time. He scrabbled for his own gun in his belt before remembering that it was out of bullets and he had idiotically forgotten to reload it. Ronin went for a second shot. The door was thrown open once more as Cole and Kai appeared. Cole had taken the gun from Kai, as his aim was better, and he shot the gun out of Ronin's hand.

"You little SHIT!" Ronin growled, and reached to pick it up again, but this was a mistake. Wu kicked him over and shoved his head into the floor with his foot.

"Who are you!" He shouted. "Skulkin? Police?"

"Let me up and I'll tell you." Ronin grunted. Wu grabbed him and turned him over. Ronin had grabbed his gun somehow and pulled the trigger. Kai managed to push Wu out of the way so the bullets thudded into the wall.

"No more chances!" Wu growled, kicking the gun away and stamping on Ronin's face. His nose snapped as a fountain of blood poured down his chin. His left eye was swollen shut.

"Who are you?!" Cole demanded. Ronin scowled, but sighed.

"I'm an assassin, and I was sent to kill you." He pointed limply at Wu.

"What? Why? Who wants to kill Wu? Kai asked. "Garmadon?"

"Who the hell is Garmadon?" Ronin muttered. "No, I will keep my client's name secret."

"Give me that knife, Cole." Wu demanded.

"Wait, what?"

"Give it to me!"

Cole handed over his weapon.

"What are you-" Ronin squeaked, but Wu stood on his face again.

"Listen here Ronin, if that's even your real name, you can either tell me what I want to know, or I cut your fingers off, one by one, starting with the index so you never fire that gun again!"

"No, please!" Ronin screamed. "I'll talk!"

"Then talk!"

"I mostly do odd jobs for the police stuff, the dirty jobs, you know? I got given the task of taking you out by the chief commissioner."

"What's his name?"

"Huh?"

"I don't know who's in charge these days, what's his name?"

"Not his." Ronin grinned. "Her. Misako Gordon."

Wu's eyes widened and he stepped back.

"Of course." He muttered. "And on the anniversary, no less."

"What?" Kai asked. "Who is she?"

Wu gave a sigh. "Garmadon's ex-wife. Lloyd's mother. It seems she also blames me for what happened to Lloyd."

They were silent for a few moments. Then,

"So, what do we do with him then?"

Wu shrugged, then the door burst open.

"I heard shouts!" Shade exclaimed, his formally neat hair a total mess. "What's he doing on the floor?"

"He tried to kill me." Wu told him. "Wake the others."

Shade gave a small, confused nod and went into the other room.

"So, what do we do with him?" Cole asked again. Wu said nothing, going over to the window. He looked down at the street below, as the sun rose over the city.

"Misako wants to pick a fight?" He muttered. "Well she can have one."

"Wu, what-" Wu turned round, a grin on his face. He strode over to Ronin and pulled him up.

"I'm not going to kill you." He said. "But you are Dareth's best shot at survival. So you may not leave this apartment and you are officially in our debt. I'll leave Griffin and Shade here to keep an eye on you. But hear me now, if anything happens to Dareth, if he dies, if he's murdered, if anyone breaks in, it is you fault and the whole of Elemental Force will come down on you like a ton of bricks, is that clear?"

Ronin scowled. "I don't do killing jobs for money. I do it for my kids. They were taken away, Cynthia, Lewis and Peter. If I kill you, or at least pretend to, I get to see them again, after three years! You don't know what it feels like to loose your family!"

"Oh I do." Wu snapped. "I lost them all in one night. Everyone here knows."

Kai thought of Nya. All he'd had left. And his parents. All taken by the same people.

Cole thought of his family, his dead mother, his pushy father. None of them knew him, the real him. From a young age, he'd realised that his blood family were practically strangers to him. The only one he felt he could connect with now was his grandfather, but his mother refused to tell him about his grandfather.

And Dareth? Who knew about his past? Certainly no one there.

"What's happening?" Jay asked sleepily as the rest entered the room.

"We are going to make the Skulkin pay." Wu said. "All of them, everyone there is. Dareth can't help us now, which means, as the second in command, I'm in charge."

"I'll contact everyone else." Shade said with a nod. "Are we meeting somewhere?"

"We're all meeting the Skulkin." Wu said, to everyone's surprise. "Oh that's right. We're taking them down, tonight."

Kai shared a look with Jay, Cole and Zane. The single look that the four of them all had.

What have we gotten ourselves into?

We're not ready to die!

We're just kids.


	18. Regret and Reluctance

**Yep, it's time for things to kick of BIG TIME, the way they haven't done in ten years! But first...**

 **MasterofCupcakes: I know! It could ruin cake for the poor guy :( Keep hoping! Just ,keep hoping... :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yep, there is very little chance this will end well. Thanks, as always :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: I don't really like pop tarts, but they're OK. It's because Wu has sort of given up on any hope Lloyd is alive. Well, next chapter is here! :)**

 **Cerenda: Me too! Yeah, I feel like the pair haven't really had a lot of time together and they're the team's strongest fighters, so it's good to see them together. I like Wu's changed character as well, instead of mysterious and peaceful, he's mysterious and... I don't really know what word to insert here :) That made me laugh, I'd probably be like that too!**

 **Well, this will be interesting :)**

It had been a long day of training, preparing and dread. None of the boys had really gotten time to eat, what with loading guns and fixing bikes and general business. Dareth was still unconscious, Wu was giving orders and Ronin hadn't spoken to anyone. The four of them had barely gotten any time to talk together, until the early evening, when Ronin silently gave them microwave meals to heat up.

"Eat. Wu's orders. You've got twenty minutes, he says." They nodded and the moment the broken man left, immediately broke out into discussion.

"What the hell is he THINKING, we're going to die!"

"What did he mean about facing the Skulkin, is the Chen event going to happen again?"

"How are they going to get hold of the other gang members, they'll be dead or scattered by now!"

"How the hell does anyone eat this, it's disgusting!"

All eyes went on Jay, who was scowling at his macaroni cheese. "Oh, right. How's Wu going to fight ALL the Skulkin?!"

"OK, clearly he has plans here he hasn't told us." Zane said in a calming voice. "He wouldn't send us on anything too dangerous, right?"

No one had the answer.

"We're done for!" Cole sighed. "Wu's gone mad, I know it. When my dad has his heart set on a piece for him and his quartet to perform, he's got the same look in his eye..."

"Well, we could run away." Kai suggested. They looked at him strangely.

"Get away from here, from them. The four of us. We don't have to be here. I mean, sure I want to find my sister, but it's been two weeks and I'm no closer to finding her than I was a fortnight ago!"

"Kai's right. We can't just stay here to die!" Jay pushed his half eaten dinner away. "I'm in.

"Me too." Zane gave a nod. Cole looked torn, but sighed.

"I'm sorry granddad." He muttered. "I'm in too."

"Great, so now all we have to do is-"

"You guys ready?" They jumped and saw a tired looking Shade in the doorway.

"Err..." Zane muttered.

"Sure." Jay lied.

"Good, because Wu told us to meet in the master bedroom."

The four boys looked at each other, then followed Shade out of the room."

...

Garmadon scowled down at the letter in his hand. Meet to discuss peace? Wu was a fool. There would never be peace. Lloyd was gone and it was all his brother's fault. What they had done at the Chen event was unforgivable and Garmadon wasn't taking any chances.

"What do we do sir?" A gang member asked. "Will we be going to the meeting?"

"Oh we'll be there, alright." Garmadon gave a sly smile. "Load your guns boys. Tonight is the night we destroy Elemental Force!"

...

There they are, the idiots." Wu muttered as he lay on the rooftop of a small building, in full Elemental Force gear. "Is everybody in position?"

"Roger." Came the voice of a gang member through the radio, and there were other words of agreement. Wu nodded, and got out his gun, preparing to fire. If he had to reinact the Chen event, fine. The Skulkins would pay or what they did to Dareth.

Garmadon was examining the gun in his hand when he heard a cry from one of his gang members as the man reeled back, blood flying from his head.

"It's an ambush!" He cried. "Kill them all!"

...

"Where the heck are we going again?" Zane panted as the four boys scrambled through an airing duct at top speed.

"No idea. Wu just said find any reinforcements and shoot them." Kai answered from behind. "That's what Wu said."

"At least we're out of the majority of the violence." Jay called from in front of Kai.

"Quiet!" Cole hissed. "I hear someone!" The four fell silent and listened. There was tapping from below them and muffled speech.

"Found someone." Kai murmured. "But how do heck do we get out of here?"

The four realised just how poorly designed their plan was.

"We have to split up." Cole said. "Up ahead, there's a T-junction type thing. "Me and Zane go left, you and Jay go right."

There was no time for arguing.

Kai shuddered. In the back of his mind, he could hear his sister's voice, calling for him. He shut it out. There was no time for that now.

"Roger." Jay said. Cole and Zane crept towards the left as Jay and Kai crawled right.

"Hmm, this is tricky." Jay muttered after a while, stopping

"What is it?"

"The tube just got thinner. I can probably fit, but there's no way you can."

"Great." Kai muttered, as he was already feeling claustrophobic. "Where do we go then?"

Jay shrugged. "Oh no, wait, there's a vent here, under me, we could just," He kicked and the vent fell open, and Jay almost fell through.

"Jay!" Kai hissed.

"I, I'm OK." Jay gasped, clinging on with his elbows. "I can't feel a floor under me though!"

"Oh shit." Kai muttered. "Hold on, I-" But Jay gave a yelp and disappeared.

"Jay!" Kai cried, and looked through the square hole Jay had been snatched by a tall Skulkin, who was fumbling for his gun and struggling to hold onto the teenage boy he had captured.

"Hang on, I'm coming!" Kai called down, and got his own gun out. The hole was far too small for him to fit through, so Kai bashed the metal around it with the butt of his gun so he could make a hole big enough to fall through. He landed in a crouch on the floor as Jay managed to kick the gang member in the face, knocking him unconscious.

"Well, that was anit-climatic." Kai muttered. "So, do we shoot him now?"

The pair looked down at the unconscious man on the floor.

"I guess." Jay replied. But neither of them moved for what felt like many minutes.

"Let's just tie him up." Kai said quickly.

"Good idea." Jay replied, and looked around for rope.

The pair eventually found some and left the man trussed up on the floor. Both were glad they hadn't killed someone who couldn't fight back.

"Where to now?" Jay asked after a while. Kai shrugged.

"Find more gang members. Tie them up."

"Wu told us to kill them."

"Wu's gone mad. Haven't you noticed."

Jay giggled slightly. Then it lapsed into nervous silence again. The pair moved through the seemingly empty warehouse, looking out for someone, anyone. Kai kept a cautious eye on Jay. He could tell the other boy was nervous, but trying not to show it. Undoubtably, Kai felt the same.

"Let's get out of here." He said, and Jay was only too quick to agree.

...

Nya could hear shuffling and whispers coming from the vent above. She looked up and saw the long, metal pipe, and the noises coming from that. "Weird." She muttered. Then called out

"Hello?"

"There was a voice from the duct. It was too quiet to make out the speech, but she knew the voice very well.

"Kai?" She gasped, then louder. "KAI!"

Silence.

"Damn it!" Nya snapped, rocking the chair she was tied to from side to side, the necklace swinging off her chest. There had been nothing in it all along. She'd been given it back, but still held captive in this stupid warehouse. She was tired. She was hungry. But worst of all, she was afraid.

Nya rocked her chair back and fourth. She hadn't seen a guard in hours and the last one had gone to get a beer half an hour ago and still wasn't back. It was now or never.

Nya managed to tip the chair over onto it's side. Cursing as she bashed herself on the hard, carpeted floor, Nya lifted her head and looked around. The room was illuminated with a few candles and tea lights, so she could just make out a broken light bulb hanging from the ceiling and a door in the corner. Nya shuffled towards the wall. The bulb had given her an idea.

Nya got to the wall and reached out a foot. She kicked it as hard as she could.

"Come on, come ON!" She muttered, until at last, the bulb was shaken free from the wall and the entire piece of ceiling it was attached to fell to the floor.

"Damn it!"

But Nya didn't see the biggest problem of all. The falling chunk of ceiling had upset several of the candles, knocking them onto their side, setting the carpet on fire.

"SHIT!" Nya screamed! "No, no, HELP!"

But the only answer she got was the fire alarm roaring into life and the smoke beginning to trickle into her lungs.


	19. I was in a fire

**Haha, I'm mean to these protagonists, I really am!**

 **MasterofCupcakes: I know, poor guys! But it could always be worse for them (it will be!) :) Don't worry, I wouldn't kill off Nya... heh heh...**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yes they did! Perhaps they will, but you can find out right now!. As always, thank you! :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: OK then. Haha, poor Nya!**

 **Cerenda: Haha, poor Wu, he was never really a favourite of mine, but Elemental Force does need a strong leader. In this chapter, you'll see more of their growing relationship, so yeah :) I know, she's rather unfortunate isn't she! Enjoy that chapter :)**

 **Did I mention that Jaya is my OTP and that Zane will eventually get his memories back? Hmm...**

Kai and Jay were still looking for a less claustrophobic way out when the fire alarm sounded.

"Shit, what did the others do?!" Jay gasped.

"And how the heck do we get out of here?!" Kai exclaimed. Jay whirled his head around and pointed to a door at the end of hallway with the neon green sign labelled 'fire exit'. "Oh, right."

"The two boys made a beeline for the door which lead onto the back of the building. They could hear the sounds of a ferocious gun battle between the two gangs from a few streets away and shuddered. Or shivered, because it was pouring with rain.

"Calmly children, head to the nearest fire exits and wait for instructions." Jay muttered, and then shot his jokey smile towards Kai, who did not smile back.

"Where are the others?!" He wondered aloud. As if on cue, there was a furious banging from a vent overhead.

"Help! Let me out!" Came a shout. It was Cole. Kai quickly gave Jay a leg up so he could pull the vent from the wall. Cole seemed to be in a bit of a panic, as he shoved it so hard it crashed into Jay's mouth.

"Argh, you..." Jay shouted, but his voice faded a strangled whisper.

"Sorry!" Cole gasped. "But it's a fucking oven in here!"

He scrambled down.

"Are you OK Jay?" He asked. Jay attempted to answer, couldn't, so glared at Cole.

"Right um, Zane has the first aid kit so... wait, Zane?"

They looked at the air conditioning shaft above, empty. The rain clattered on the pavement around them, getting louder and louder

"He was right behind me, I-" Cole gasped in pain suddenly and looked down at his fingers. They were burnt and blistered from the hot metal. "Argh, SHIT!"

"Go, back to the apartment. Hide, we'll catch you up!" Kai told him. Cole ran off, clutching his hands. Kai looked at the vent.

"I'm going back for him."

"No, you..." Jay wheezed. He took a deep breath. "You-"

But his words were cut off by a scream.

A familiar scream.

"Help! Someone help me!"

Kai felt his heart drop in his chest. His mouth fell open.

No.

It couldn't be.

It was.

"Nya?" He gasped. "NYA!"

Jay's eyes widened.

"Go!" He told her. "Go to her, help her-" He coughed and his voice windled down again. Kai looked towards a second vent from which the scream had come.

"It's too bloody small!" He gasped, panicking.

"You'll fit!" Jay reassured him, his voice squeaking. "You've got to take this chance, or you may not see her again!"

"But..." Kai felt like a coward. He was too scared, his sister needed him! What a dickhead he was!

"Go!" Jay's voice rose to a shout as thunder crashed overhead and the two boys were beginning to get drenched in rain. "It's a chance I would have taken, believe me, you'll regret it, if you don't!"

"What?" Jay suddenly blushed, as if he'd said something he shouldn't have. "What do you mean ' a chance you would have taken'?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Jay, if-"

"I had a sister too, OK?" Jay wasn't just shouting because of his anger and quietened voice, but because the thunder was sounding very loud ahead. "That's how I met Samukai. I don't know if she was biological, or my adopted sister, but one night, Skulkin broke into our home, trashed the place, my parents were out, and defended me and he shot her. She died that night and I would have taken any chance I could to save her!"

The two boys stared at each other as the storm raged around them. Kai took a deep breath.

"OK. But there's no way I'll fit. So I am trusting you, Jay Walker, to rescue my sister."

Jay looked surprised, but nodded.

"I won't let you down." He wheezed.

Kai scrambled up to the vent that Cole had come from, going after Zane.

The two boys nodded at one another, then crawled into the blistering metal ovens to save the people they cared about.

...

The smoke was pouring into the small cupboard Zane had ended up in. He didn't know how, it had been dark in the vent, and hot too, and he couldn't keep up with Cole. He had accidentally taken a wrong path and the vent he'd ended and he'd fallen into here, this little smoky room. Zane was disorientated and confused. But he knew he wasn't getting out of here.

That was strange. He suddenly got the sensation of de ja vu **(I have no idea how the **** to spell that)**. In a small room with smoke, no escape. But suddenly, he remembered a window.

This was something he hadn't remembered before.

 _"They're here Martha!"_

 _"They... what?!"_

 _"They're here, for me, my inventions, take Zane, hide!"_

 _"No, not without you."_

 _"Just go!"_

 _He was snatched by his mother, the one he called mother, and she ran, through their home in the tree to Zane's bedroom. they sat for a few minutes, waiting, listening to the fight raging downstairs._

 _"Mummy?"_

 _"Shhhh, Zane, I'm listening."_

 _There came a cry of pain from below. His mother gasped._

 _"Richard! Stay here Zane." She ran off. She didn't come back. After a while, Zane smelled the smoke. He was trapped!_

"Zane? Zane!" His eyes opened and he saw Kai above him, looking worried.

"Huh? Kai?"

"Zane, thank goodness!" Kai breathed. "Here, can you stand. We've got to get out of here!"

"How did you get in here?"

"Same as you. Come on." Kai pulled Zane to his feet and helped him over to the door, Zane leaning heavily on his shoulder. Kai took one look at the locked door and kicked it open. The pair hurried through the empty building, past the screaming sirens that were giving them a headache.

Zane pointed limply.

"Door." He whispered. There was a double door down the corridor, through an office. Kai and Zane hurried towards it and Kai kicked the door open. Zane was leaning heavily on him now, coughing slightly.

"Kai, Kai, I remember."

"Shit cops everywhere-"

"I remember my parents. The Skulkin came, I was in a fire-"

"We're at the front of the building!" Kai saw cops running towards the big scum of Elemental Force fighting about fifty meters away, reinforcements most likely. There was no sign of Jay and...

No sign of Nya. Kai's heart sank.

"Hey!" He heard a shout and saw some cops running towards them. "Elemental Force, stop right there!"

"Shit!" Kai gasped, and set off at a run, practically dragging the half conscious Zane with him. But they were nowhere hear fast enough. Kai would be able to get away on his own, but Zane?

He could just leave Zane behind.

No. No way.

Kai had been so caught up in the situation, he ran smack into a lamp post, which gave him a sudden reeling headache and re-opened the cut Jay had stitched up so clumsily. Kai was struggling to run himself now, and then to add to it all, he felt a burning pain in his foot.

They had shot him! The bastards!

Kai knew there was no chance he'd get away now. But Zane...

Kai saw his opportunity. An alley. He limped over and, throwing a glance over his shoulder at the running cops, dumped Zane down between some bins.

"Get your strength up, get back to the apartment, got it?"

"But-"

"Don't worry about me!"

Kai limped away as fast as he could, and was immediately hit in the face with the officer's flashlights.

"Got you now!" One sneered, and Kai winced. He was close to passing out AGAIN!

Kai was roughly grabbed, forced into handcuffs and practically dragged to the police car. The officers seemed to have forgotten about Zane, which was good. He would be able to make a getaway.

"You have the right to remain silent!" One of them commanded. Kai was forced down and an officer laughed as he smacked Kai's head against the car's top. This was the last straw with Kai's consciousness. He passed out in the officer's burly arms.

...

Damn, it really was an oven in here. Jay hadn't been fond of the rain, but he would have liked it to be in here. He could barely breath and had to keep pulling his jacket sleeves over his hands to stop them from burning like Cole's. Jay was scared for his life, but kept on crawling. He had to save Kai's sister. Kai was his friend and... well, he had kind of been joking about hitting on a girl he didn't even know. But it was just a joke, and his sister used to do the same.

Nicole. Was she even his real sister? Wu hadn't mentioned anything about that, but what did that idiot know anyway?

Damn, where was this girl anyway? She had stopped screaming. Was that good or bad?

"Hello?" Jay called, or tried to call. His voice had faded completely. Idiot Cole.

He started to bang on the vent instead.

"Hello?" He heard the call again. "HELP!"

 _I'm coming!_ Jay mouthed and set off in the direction of the voice. He kept coming until he was directly above the voice. YES! There was another vent here!

Jay kicked it out and swung down. The room was filled with fire and smoke and he coughed, pulling his T-shirt up over his face.

"Help me!" Nya screamed again. She was tied up on the floor, surrounded by flames.

Jay gave her a reassuring nod, pulled a knife out of his pocket and cut Nya's bonds.

"Thank you!" She gasped, standing up, rubbing her wrists. Jay got a good look at her and gasped.

Kai had forgotten to mention that his sister was stunningly beautiful.

"Who are you?" Nya asked in a gasp.

Jay tried to tell her, remembered he couldn't speak, so just motioned towards the door with his head. Nya nodded.

"Right. Escape."

Damn that girl was hot!


	20. Lloyd Garmadon

**Yes I know there is cover art. I am aware it is upside down, has cr*ppy lighting and I can't draw. But if you screenshot and zoom in (if you're really that desperate) then you can see the detail, I think.**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: Well, yeah, and Jay thinks Nya's extra hot! :) Thanks :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yep, our little nindroid has got his memory back. Yay! :) Haha, that made me laugh! No, I don't think Jay's like that, but on the other hand, he doesn't know what's happened to Kai yet. Thanks, as always :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Aww yes, I feel sorry for the guy. I really do bully my favourite characters in Ninjago and other shows! Thanks, I was going for that adorable Jaya theme :) I'm glad you think so :)**

 **Cerenda: I had a feeling you'd say something like that, because it's the angle I was aiming for! But incredible? That made me smile :) Yeah, that did make their Jaya moment better without Jay throwing his jokes around, just simple first impressions of Jay being 'helpful' and 'efficient'. Oh yes, Jaya is the best ship in Ninjago, no, in every fandom ever! I will argue a long way for it! I knew it was my OTP before I even knew what an OTP is. But I'm glad we can agree on that fact :)**

 **Big stuff happening in this chapter guys! I hope you like it! :)**

Every madman has a point when they know their stupid plan will never work and they have to abandon ship. Wu had avoided being shot, thankfully, but he was tired, bruised and had been stabbed in the same leg for what felt like five times. Little shot of de ja vu there. Limping, Wu managed to shove and shoot his way out of the battle. He felt sort of bad for abandoning a mess that he had started, but the police were here now. They'd just get arrested before anyone got seriously hurt. He hoped.

Wu ran, or limped quickly, all the way back to Ronin's apartment. He hoped the boys had found their way back safely.

Wu banged on the door. "Let me in! Ronin? Shade?"

The door was opened quickly and Wu saw Jay, looking nervous. Without a word, Jay, hurried away and towards the sofa. Wu shut and locked the door behind him. Zane was lying pale and unconscious on the sofa and Cole was pottering about in the kitchen, his hands bandaged. There was no sign of Kai.

"Where's the others?" Wu asked. "Shade, Ronin, Kai?"

Jay shrugged.

"And why isn't he talking."

"I accidentally hit him in the throat with a grate." Cole muttered. His voice was cold.

"Guys, I got some cloths, and water, they may help." A female voice came from the bathroom door as a girl walked in, younger than Jay with long black hair and a serious expression. Her eyes widened when she saw Wu.

"Who is she?" Wu demanded, though the girl did look familiar.

"Take a guess." Cole said coldly.

Wu realised. "Kai's sister!" He exclaimed. "I can see it, you look a lot like Ray."

"You were at the apartment." Nya said, frowning. "When the Skulkin took me."

Wu nodded. "I tried to help. But, where's your brother? Where's Kai?"

There came a sound like a constipated camel. It was Jay clearing his throat.

"They took him." He said in a raspy voice.

"The Skulkin?"

"No. The police. Zane saw it and told us before he passed out. He almost got cremated because of your stupid plan." Jay stared down Wu with disgust. "And now the police have Kai and Cole can't use his hands and Zane could die. And guess who's fault that is?"

Jay and Wu stared each other down for a long time, both scowling. Then Wu turned away and marched over to the kitchen. He brought out a phone from his pocket and dialled the number for Shade.

No answer.

He dialled Griffin. It rang a few times, before it was picked up.

"Where the fuck are you?!" Wu demanded.

"Man, it's chaos out here!" Griffin shouted through the phone.

"Wait, are you fighting?"

"Yeah, Tox called for reinforcements, they were getting their tails headed to them! We brought Ronin. We had to help out, but now we're stuck too!"

"Shit. Listen Turner, get everyone back here."

"The apartment?"

"Where else, idiot? Run, escape, get back here."

"But you said-"

"Forget what I said! Just get everyone here! There are more important things at stake!"

"Like-"

"Your lives, fool! Get out of there!"

The phone hung up or was knocked out of Griffin's hand, because the other line went dead. Wu sighed. He just hoped no one died tonight. Not like losing his nephew, ten years ago this very night.

...

Oh come on! Not again!

Kai seemed to have set a record the past fortnight for waking up in unfamiliar beds with headaches. Only his foot ached too this time, and the bed felt softer than the previous times.

Kai opened his eyes. Yay, painful bright white light too! Eventually, he could open his eyes. Kai sat up to discover than he was not back in that shipwreck, nor in a police station, but in a hospital room. He squinted and looked about. No one else was here, he didn't think. Kai felt his forehead and discovered that his cut had been re-sewn, much better and professional this time. It hurt less this time and already, the pain was easing.

Kai found that his jacket had disappeared, along with his normal clothes and he wore the usual hospital pyjamas. He scowled, and began looking around for methods of escape.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps from behind the door. Kai froze.

"You're hosting movie night tonight L?" Came a voice.

"Yeah, see you six." Another voice, closer to the door, probably L.

"I'm bringing Amy, you know, just to rub it in your face."

"Screw you." Laughter and a young, blonde man came in through the door, laughing.

"Alright, see you then." He turned towards Kai, and looked surprised to see him awake.

"Oh, hello. About time you surfaced."

"What time is it?" Kai asked, while examining the nurse. He was young, probably in his early twenties, with golden blonde hair and a kind smile. His eyes were green and, despite his smile, seemed to hide something. Something dark, mysterious and scary.

You could barely see it from this distance, but he had a few horrible scars running down the side of his face.

Kai read the nametag and froze.

"You're him?!" He exclaimed. "You're Lloyd Garmadon!"

...

"Zane? Buddy? Can you hear me?"

"Urgh." Zane's eyes flickered open and focused on the face in front of him.

"Huh? Jay?"

"Oh good, he's awake." Zane opened his eyes fully and sat up. He felt sick.

"What the heck happened?" He groaned. "I don't feel great."

"Don't look it either." Jay commented. He sounded hoarse and his voice was a lot quieter than normal. "Do you seriously not remember anything?"

"No, I..." Zane gasped. "I do remember. More than ever I, Jay, I remember my parents, my family! Who I am!"

"Say what?"

"I was in the fire and, it brought it all back, I'm the adopted son of Richard and Martha Julien, who used to make weapons for Elemental Force. One night, the Skulkin invaded and my dad and mum fought, and then the place got set on fire and I..." Zane frowned suddenly. "Wait. Where's Kai? He left me in the alley and the police... Oh no."

Jay nodded. "Then we found you and you told us what happened, before passing out again."

"Us? Wait..."

Zane turned to see the same black haired girl sat on an armchair, asleep.

"Kai's sister!" He exclaimed. "How, oh come on! This is awful timing!"

"He went to find you, I went to find her. The building burned down and Cole's hands are all burned. We're mainly resting now, and waiting for the other gang members."

"They went out to fight?"

"Yeah, not back yet..." Jay's voice dwindled to a croak and he cleared it, but it still refused to work.

"What happened to your throat?"

Jay gestured towards the shape of Cole asleep in an armchair.

"Oh, right. What time is it?"

Jay gestured to his stomach.

"Breakfast? No, lunch, lunch? Lunch."

Jay nodded.

"Lunch. Damn, I've been out a while."

Jay nodded.

Suddenly, there was a ferocious pounding on the door. Both of them jumped. Cole gave a grunt in his sleep.

"Open up!" It was Ronin's voice, and he sounded desperate. "Help, he's dying!"

...

The moment Kai uttered these words, Lloyd's face instantly changed from friendly politeness, to disgust and anger.

"Oh great, you're in those gangs?!" He spat. "Police said you were in their custody, I didn't assume you worked for my father or something! Who are you then? Skulkin? Elemental Force? Vermillion?"

"No, no, I'm with Elemental Force." Kai said quickly. "The good guys."

Lloyd snorted. "Ha. There is no good and evil in gang warfare. There are only the stupid people who want a shot of power, or criminal bastards who want to kick the shit out of people who can't defend themselves."

Kai was slightly surprised at Lloyd's response.

"I've met your uncle." He told Lloyd. "He thinks you're dead. Everyone does."

"Good. I'm not going back to that life. I'm not Lloyd Garmadon anymore, the son of the Skulkin's nefarious leader. No, Lloyd Green is just a quiet, kind nurse with a normal life, no parents and no history before he was twelve years old!" Kai could hear the desperation in Lloyd's voice, the anger. He had created a perfect life for himself, one in which his father didn't exist, in which he could heal the wounds caused by his parents.

"So, which one are you then?" Lloyd demanded. "Stupid or evil? Or both?"

"Neither." Kai protested. "I only joined because the Skulkin took my sister."

"Why?" Lloyd demanded, sitting on an empty bed across from Kai, still scowling.

"My parents were hiding the Elemental Tasers or something, and they thought she had the map."

"So my father is after the Elemental Tasers." Lloyd sighed. "The bastard never changes. Well, good luck with that from your jail cell."

"What?!" Kai exclaimed.

"Police said to notify them when you woke up. I'm off." He stood up.

"No, please, wait!" Kai begged. "I'll keep your identity secret!" He called. "If I get arrested again, I'll tell the cops who you are and I can imagine the questions they'll have for you! And media interrogation. Your perfect little life would be put on hold."

Lloyd gasped and Kai felt awful. He hated to blackmail a guy who had been through so much already and just tried to get away from it all. But he needed to get back to the others.

Lloyd came very close to Kai, his face an angry scowl. "I showed up at this hospital when I was twelve years old, begging for help, bleeding out. They were the only people who showed real compassion to me, ever. I got a small job here, slept secretly in a cupboard. Until I could get my medical degree and help people the way I wanted to! And if you take that away from me then you are no better than the people who took you sister!"

"Then let me go." Kai scowled back, because growing up with Nelson as a landlord had taught him never to back down from confrontations such as this. "I won't tell anyone. I won't even tell Wu."

Lloyd sighed.

"I am going to make the call. I shall walk slowly. It will take me ten minutes to phone them and five for them to arrive. This room shall be unlocked and unguarded during that time. Good luck."

Kai gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks mate."

"I'm not your mate."

Kai stood up. "Where's my jacket?" He asked.

"How the heck should I know? You'll have a better life without it anyway. And, when you find your sister, you two can come to my place." He dropped a scrap of paper onto the bed. "I'll set you on the right path."

Kai nodded. Lloyd nodded back and left.

Kai waited until he heard footsteps walking away.

"Damn, he does resemble his dad." He muttered, then went to the door and opened it.


	21. The last pop tart

**Sorry it took so long, it's been a busy as sh*t week!**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: L was just to create suspense, if I'd put Lloyd or Loy or something like that, it would have been WAY too obvious. I'm glad someone noticed that, because there are other gangs in the city and most are just as bad...**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Hmm, no, neither would I. Glad you think so :)**

 **Cerenda: Yeah, that was for laughs :) Kind of, Wu somehow does care for them, but he's just got a hard time dealing with emotion after losing so many people. Yes he is. Yay :) Yeah, but I don't think that's occurred to Lloyd yet. Thanks, I'll try.**

 **Again, sorry for the delay, but the teachers seem to take end of year exams just as seriously as GCSEs with revision and all that and I had a few personal problems to deal with.**

"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

"OK, OK, hold on!" Jay wheezed as he scrabbled at the lock. "Got it!"

The door burst open, pinning Jay to the wall as five or so people rushed in, Ronin, Shade, Griffin Turner, who was limping badly, and two women whom Jay had never seen before. But no one seemed injured. Ronin took a quick look around.

"Where's Wu?" He fired the question at Jay.

"Erm."

"Where?!"

Jay pointed, confused and losing his voice yet AGAIN!

Ronin and Shade rushed towards the door that Jay had pointed to. As they passed, Cole sat up, blinking sleeping.

"What the heck?" He asked, rubbing his eyes. Jay shrugged and followed the two men to the room.

He entered and froze.

Wu lay on the floor, pale and unmoving.

"What the FUCK happened?!" He exclaimed, then realised, "Oh, I can talk, yes, but, WHAT THE-"

"Shut up kid!" Shade snarled. "I saw them stab him, it's poison. Ronin, where is it?"

"Antidote? I put it on some pop tarts in the kitchen, you kid, go get them!"

"Oh, um, sure." Jay ran to the kitchen, ignoring Cole's quick fire questions and grabbed the box on the kitchen side.

Empty. What the-

Cole.

"Shit." Jay muttered, grabbing the box and running back to the room.

"Where the heck did they go?" Ronin exclaimed, looking at the empty box.

"Oh, erm, I think they got eaten." Jay muttered. The men scowled as Cole entered the room.

"Oh my..." Cole exclaimed, seeing the situation. Jay looked round at him and saw, his jacket pocket.

Sticking out of it...

"POP TART!" Jay cried, jumping forward and grabbing the last one from Cole's pocket.

"Wha- hey!" Cole scrabbled for it, but Jay tossed it to Ronin.

"Well done, there's just enough left!" Ronin crumbled it up and sprinkled it over Wu's mouth.

"OK, what is going on?!" Cole demanded. Shade sighed.

"Wu was stabbed with a poison knife that Ronin here engineered for the Skulkins so he therefore has the antidote and Wu should be fine now, I think?" Shade turned to Ronin, who nodded.

"Thankfully there was enough of it there, but seriously kid? The whole box?"

Cole squirmed.

"Come on, let's leave him." Jay tapped his friend on the shoulder and the pair went back to the others. Nya was awake now, and looked relived to see Jay. After he had rescued her, Nya had stuck close to Jay, probably due to the nervousness about her brother. Jay didn't mind, he liked Nya, she seemed nice.

"Hey, who are these guys?" Nya asked, gesturing to the two women and Griffin, who was clutching his leg, his trousers stained with blood.

"I'm gonna have to stitch that up." One of the women, the one with purple hair, said to him, holding a knife to cut his trousers open.

"Just... do it." Griffin said through gritted teeth.

"Other gang members." Jay replied. "Yeah, my voice has come back a bit now." He rubbed his throat. Nya sighed as Zane got up from the sofa and came over.

"I know this isn't quite the time, but..." Nya looked at Cole and Jay. "Who are you guys, and, you say you know my brother, but how and where is he?"

Zane sighed from behind her, making her jump.

"After you were taken by the Skulkin, Kai was recruited by Wu to join Elemental Force in order to get you back. We were recruited too, for all different reasons, but mainly because all our parents were part of Elemental Force. We were trained, went on a mission that went disastrously wrong, and then Wu dragged us to explore the warehouse you were being kept in while the rest of the gang fought. Griffin Turner's injured through the fight and I think Wu was as well.

Nya gave a small nod and a sigh. "So, Kai's in the police custody?"

"I think so." Nya frowned and brought something out of her pocket. The necklace the |S|kulkin had taken her for.

"For some reason they gave it back to me." She said. "I think, inside it, there's a map the the Elemental Tasers.

"Wu has one as well, your parents kept a spare before they were kidnapped." Cole told her. Nya gasped and he realised that Nya had been unaware of this. "Oh, erm, yeah, Wu figured it out."

"So Kai was wrong." Nya gave a small laugh. "They didn't abandon us. Do you think they're still alive?" She asked nervously. Cole and Zane looked at each other with doubt.

"Erm."

"Sure." Jay said quickly, putting a hand on Nya's shoulder. "We'll find a way to rescue them!"

"Really?" Nya grinned. "Thanks Jay, but, I'm coming too."

All three of them looked surprised.

"Say what?" Jay questioned.

"They're my parents. Kai is my brother and I don't care about the risk, I am coming with you to save them, wherever they are."

Cole, who seemed to be taking charge a little gave a small nod. "Fine, but we'll have to train you up. And, do you want a jacket?"

Nya considered. This was sort of a token of membership for Elemental Force, and Nya had always looked down on crime and been afraid of the gangs. The Skulkin had kidnapped her, and the gangs were very similar. Elemental Force were probably just as bad.

But for Kai? For mum and dad?

She'd do anything.

...

Urgh, rain AGAIN! He hoped it wouldn't be a storm like last night. Kai was tired already, maybe he did belong in hospital a bit longer. He had probably lost a lot of blood.

He hoped Lloyd wouldn't get punished for what he did, he was immensely grateful to the guy. Kai hoped Jay had been able to save Nya. Now all that was left was to find Ronin's apartment again (wherever that was) and find the others.

He hoped Zane had gotten away, damn, he should have asked Lloyd if there were any more Elemental Force patients.

Kai put his hands in his trouser pockets and felt something there, paper. Lloyd's address. The guy could get him and his friends out of the fighting. They could probably all get helpful jobs. Kai had worked, Zane had begged, Jay had tinkered and Cole had mentioned doing a paper round. They'd be able to support themselves.

Until they too were grown up. Would Shade or Griffin Turner or someone else show up at their homes, trying to recruit their children?

No, Kai was sick of the gangs. He would get back to his sister and the others. He just had somewhere to go first.

There was a map of the city a few feet away on a wall. Kai went over to it and pinpointed Ninjago City Police Station.

...

"Jay, what was that about?" Cole demanded as the three stood a few feet away from Nya so she couldn't hear.

"What do you mean?"

"There's no chance her parents are alive. I know she's been through a lot, but she can take that."

"You don't know that!" Jay argued.

"She's Kai's sister, he's not going to take this lightly." Zane warned. Jay's mouth dropped open.

"What, you mean, you actually... oh my-"

"Jay-"

"I'm not hitting on her, I'm just being nice!" Jay argued.

"Sure, Kai's going to see it that way." Zane said sarcastically. Jay rolled his eyes.

"Screw you." He said, and turned to go help the others tend to their wounds.

 **I feel like that was really boring and filler, but I have to keep the story moving somehow.**


	22. Eyes of a dead brother

**Sorry for the lack of action in recent chapters, but**

 **CHEESEPUFF: OK, you definitely have opinions on the gangs! Glad to see you excited about it :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Thanks, I always love that comment you put on the end :) Yep, the world of crime is troublesome, though that did make me laugh :)**

 **Cerenda: OK, thanks. It occurred to me randomly to use them, but I decided to put it in. Yeah, this was originally going to follow the plot of the pilots pretty closely, but it's just taken a weird toll and just spiralled far away from that now! No chance of recovery. Thanks, it didn't take long, but it is one of the best Ninjago drawings I've ever done, in my opinion and I'm glad someone liked it. You should have seen the practise runs on the opposite page though! Thanks, WE DID IT! I've never got this many on any story, ever! :D**

 **This is set a week or two onwards, by the way.**

Nya was sick of the same four walls, well, more than that, but it was like being a prisoner again. This dumpy apartment was all she'd had for weeks, and even though she had been given one of the jackets, her colour being turquoise and her symbol was a phoenix made out of water, which she liked, but she wasn't really treated as a member of Elemental Force. She supposed that was a good thing, as she didn't want to be a criminal, but she couldn't help but get that twinge of jealousy every time the boys or men went out on a scouting mission to try find Skulkin. They had been trying to make a plan of action for weeks, to get the gang back on their feet, but it hadn't happened yet. As far as anyone knew, this was all they had. Four teenagers. An old man, who was recovering from poisoning. Two women, Chamille and Tox. Griffin, who could barely walk. Shade, who was hardly there, as he had another job. Their leader, who was barely ever awake and Nya had never even met him. Ronin, whatever he was. And Kai.

Kai, who was never here either. Every time someone came back from a scouting mission, Nya would ask for news, but each time, it was the same, the sad shake of the head and apology. She was sick of it. Nya wanted her brother back. It had been a month since her kidnap.

Nya was making dinner, (a rather sexist job, as she viewed it), with Zane's help (which she appreciated) when the scouting party returned, Cole and the two girls. They didn't look happy. Nya didn't ask about Kai, but saw the small looks the three gave to each other, and then looked over at Nya. She stopped mixing the sauce and examined the party.

"Any news?" She called. Cole sighed and came over.

"You may want to see this." He muttered, and passed her a single item, a newspaper from six days ago.

Confused, Nya took it and glanced at the front page. Alistair Chen arrested for child neglect and his daughter missing. She looked at Cole.

"Further in." He muttered. "Page five."

Nya turned, and gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth.

Escaped Elemental Force member brutally murdered by the Skulkin 

Nya quickly skimmed the article.

 _An unnamed minor who was arrested after last weeks breakout of gang violence on Post Road, escaped custody recently, as he was set recovering in the hospital. After being reported missing by a member of the health organisation who requests to be left unnamed, the body of said minor was found late last night in the canal, the face scarred, the trademark Skulkin murder. Specialists have said..._

And there was the picture, it was obviously Kai. He had an open cut and was dirty and unconscious, but it was him alright. Nya dropped the paper to the ground. She was very conscious of everyone's eyes on her.

"Excuse me." She muttered, and ran out of the room, to the bathroom. Nya locked the door (not that that would keep out anyone who desperately wanted to be in there) and curled up on the floor. She heard the voices from the other room: "Should we go after her?" "No, leave her." "Poor kid, that's all of her family gone now..."

Nya clamed her hands tight over her ears, trying to block them out. She didn't want their sympathy, she didn't want to hear their opinions, see their faces. She just wanted Kai, Kai back with her, his cocky smile, his clever eyes, Kai defending her from the landlord, Kai teaching her to read, as they had no parents to teach her. Kai, when their parents first disspeared, reassuring his little sister that they would return. Funny that, she had barely been able to recall that particular memory for all of her life, but now it was clear to her. And she noticed something she had never noticed before. The tears in her brother's brown eyes.

No one else had eyes like Kai. Absolutely no one had ever had eyes so filled with hurt and hope, fear and ferocity, defence and attack, love and hatred.

Nya would never see those eyes again.

She had no idea how long she stayed curled there, feeling the tears on her face but making no sound. The others probably ate and she heard them talking. She heard her brother's name mentioned many times, and didn't want to listen at all. She didn't even jump when Jay made his grand entrance.

"Sup people, you will not believe who was at the shop-"

Muffled speech. Then Jay again.

"WHAT! No, that can't be- No, Kai, no..."

Nya's brow furrowed. So far, everyone had been on about her and how it would effect her, but Jay seemed genuinely upset as she was.

More speech.

"Oh, yeah. Where is she?...No, no way."

Nya heard footsteps coming towards her. "Nya?" She heard Jay tap on the door. "You in there?"

"Uh hu." Nya sighed, loud enough for him to hear her.

"Using the bathroom or hiding?"

Nya waited a little before replying. "Hiding."

"Mind if I join you?"

"What about dinner?"

"Have you had dinner?"

Nya shrugged to herself and stood up to let him in. She was surprised to see that Jay's eyes had tears in them. His tone of voice hadn't suggested so. She realised she would probably look similar."

"How you holding up?" Jay asked her. She shrugged.

"Could be worse. You?"

"Fine." Jay muttered. "We weren't even that close, I shouldn't-" A sob broke his lips and he turned his face away.

Nya was surprised. She hadn't imagined someone else she barely knew crying over her dead brother, but here Jay was. Awkwardly, she slipped her arm around his shoulders.

"I shouldn't." Jay wiped his face. "He's your brother, not mine."

"Doesn't mean you shouldn't be sad." Nya told him. "The others didn't seem too shaken, but you... it's nice to know you hardened criminals care."

Jay gave a tiny laugh. "Even Wu cares, but he won't show it. I think Cole's just in shock and I haven't seen Zane, he's talking to Wu. They all cared about him though. Are you-"

"I'm fine." Nya said quickly. Jay gave her a look. "I mean, not that I don't care, but I just..."

"Don't want me to treat you like broken glass." Jay gave a nod. "I get it. For a girl, you're pretty strong and... powerful and empowering. Just like my sister, Nicole, actually."

"For a girl?" Nya asked sternly. Jay gave a sudden gulp. "No, no, that's no what I mean, I-"

Nya laughed. "I know you didn't mean it. So this sister of yours, is she in the gangs?"

Jay frowned. "She's dead." He said quickly. "The Skulkin killed her when I was ten."

Nya gasped. "So you never said anything!" She exclaimed. "That, that's awful."

Jay gave a small nod. "I'm kind of over it by now, but... only Cole knows. Oh, and Kai, well, he knew."

"And me now." Nya gave a small sigh. "Man, our lives are tragic, aren't they?"

"Yep. I am officially sick of gang warfare. Oh, yeah, I saw someone at the shop today, the head officer working on the case of the disappearance or Chen's daughter."

"Who? Oh yeah, Kai's boss."

"Yeah. They said they have a lead, and it involves the Skulkin, and some zoo. He was pretty drunk, spilling secrets to the whole pub."

"You were in a pub?" Nya asked. Jay flushed red.

"Yeah, Shade works there and I wanted to ask him something. He wasn't listening though, only you and I know about this, in fact-"

"Let's go." Nya said quickly.

"Say what?"

"Let's go rescue that girl. The police force is only focused on the city and there's only one zoo here. We can get her to safety, help her out of gang life, then, maybe we could leave it ourselves."

Jay frowned. "I thought you wanted to join EF?"

"Only to save Kai. But now... now that's out of the window, I just want normal life again. And this girl, Sky I think, she deserves that. And so do you, Jay Walker."

Jay shrugged. "I came to the gangs to get revenge for Nicole's death. But... I haven't had the opportunity and... that's just been my driving force for me since I saw... since she, yeah, and I've come to realise that these people aren't the monsters I used to nightmare about. They're just normal people, some even have normal jobs, like Shade. Some are monsters, but most are just poor people, people who want revenge, people who are just plain dumb and attention seekers."

"People like us." Nya nodded. "So, are you in?"

Jay nodded. "Yes, I am. And after that, we could start a new life for ourselves... Together?"

Nya gave a shrug and a nod. "Sure. We're friends, aren't we? And it's not like I have anyone else."

Jay nodded. "Yeah, friends. Do we tell the others?"

"Zane and Cole? Do you think we should."

Jay considered, then shook his head. "No, they have their own problems."

Nya smiled at him and he smiled back. Jay was pretty cute and she liked him, but her brother had just died, well, she'd just got the news. And Nya had zero experience with other teens. She didn't really want a relationship yet. But in the future?

Well, we'd have to wait and see...


	23. Escape

**Clever little readers, I couldn't fool anyone :)**

 **CatGirl.02: Whoa, really? I didn't think I was much good at AUs, but that comment really put a smile on my face. Thanks so much! :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: Yeah, she is :) That was referenced ages ago, sorry for the wait. No, no he didn't.**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Of course. I wouldn't leave my OTP hanging :) Thanks, I felt that needed to be said. Clever dragon, yes you would :)**

 **Cerenda: Yep, don't always believe what you hear in the news! Thanks, I enjoyed writing it. Jaya 4eva! :D I do enjoy drawing, but I've never been much good at it. Me too, writing's definitely of the only careers I can see myself having**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Sane? What were you expecting? Yeah, he's always been nice, and I like his and Kai's bromance in the show. Hehe, that was intentional, one of my few funny moments :)  
Well, they don't call him the Master of Lightning for nothing. I could turn that into a plot point later on... Maybe... Hmm... (brainstorming now). Yes he is :)  
No, not quite :) Maybe... ;) I'm glad you think so. Thanks for the review spree, I appreciate it :)**

"Food."

"I'm not hungry."

"Mr G's orders, you take it or I give you a nasty haircut."

Kai sighed and took the little plate. Canned vegetables and a slab of spam. He almost missed Cole's cooking from back on the shipwreck.

Kai wondered what the others would be up to. Would they have heard the 'news'? Kai had been shown the article, the Skulkin had probably paid the news papers to write that, and tipped off the police as well. Kai didn't get why they'd gone to so much trouble for him. Maybe because he'd been prepared to tell? He had been asked by the man outside the door of the station what he was doing. Kai had told him the truth. The man had stopped him and moments later, a car had shown up. Only after the door had been shut on him, Kai had realised the truth. That the man sat next to him wasn't with the police. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. Well, at least Nya was safe, he hoped.

Kai had been searched after getting out of the car, he'd anticipated this. He still had Lloyd's address in his pocket, but had managed to memorise it and had eaten it before it could be read. He wasn't going to let Mr G know that his son was alive.

Kai forced down a few mouthfuls of the food, then pushed the plate away. He would be fine, as long as he wasn't in here too long. He had already begun looking around for ways of escape. He wasn't counting on the others to rescue him. He wanted them as far away from the gang life as possible, especially Nya.

"Hey spike head, we've got you a roommate." Kai looked up to see the guards holding a man by the scruff of his neck. "Another one caught at the station. Enjoy each other's company, EFs."

He laughed and the man was thrown down next to Kai.

"I'm not with them." The man snarled, and Kai's eyes widened as he recognised that voice.

...

"So you've never been to a zoo before?" Jay asked. Nya shook her head.

"No, too much money."

"Me neither. My parents live way out in the desert. When Wu brought me to the city on our first mission, that's the first time I'd ever been there."

Jay had swiped some money from Shade, paying for the two to enter the zoo. They had their jackets in their bags. Jay had taught Nya how to use a simple gun. The pair wondered the zoo, looking out for anything suspicious, but mainly just enjoying each other's company. They'd had ice creams and made fun of the exhibits. It was like a date. Almost.

Nya was slightly more alert than Jay. She was determined to shove in the face of the Skulkin that they wouldn't take everything from her by saving this girl. Skylor Chen deserved better, whoever she was.

Jay took a deep breath. "Nya-" She gripped his arm suddenly.

"Did you see that?!" She gasped. He frowned.

"No?"

"Around that monkey cage. There was a man walking down the footpath, then another man's arm popped out and he's been pulled behind. Come on-" Nya made a start to run, but Jay grabbed her arm.

"No. We have to be careful. That could be Samukai behind there for all we know!" Both of them shuddered at the memory of the man. Jay beckoned Nya round the other side of the cage. Just behind the final corner, they got their jackets out of their bags and slipped them on, their guns too. They then listened.

"What are you doing here, Knuckle? Mr G clearly said I was to be the one to feed her from now on."

"Oh shut up! It's my duty, you can just go-"

"Is that any way to treat your old friend?"

A laugh. "Friends? Since when have we been friends, Kruncha?"

"It was your decision. You've been falling apart ever since the Chen event."

"How would you feel if that had happened to you? You would be-"

"You didn't even bring a gun."

"Neither did you!"

That was enough for Jay and Nya. The pair looked at each other, nodded, then stepped round the side of the cage.

"Hand up or we shoot!" Nya snapped. The two men jumped and turned to see the teenagers in their jackets."

"It's EF!"

"Shit!"

"This is your fault!"

"No, it's yours!" The two of them began to squabble again.

"Shut it!" Jay snapped. "Now tell us, where's Skylor Chen?"

The men stared at each other in bewilderment. Then the one with the Mohawk that reminded Nya sadly of Kai, stepped forwards.

"A shed labelled feed shed, she's in there. Mr G owns it."

"Knuckle! Mr G will kill you-"

"I don't care. I'm done with the Skulkin!"

The two hurried off. Jay and Nya looked at each other.

"Well, at least we know she's here." Jay said. "Come on, let's get that girl a rescue."

...

"Ronin!" Kai exclaimed. "How the heck did they get you?"

Ronin's mouth dropped open. "You, you're Nya's brother, aren't you?"

"Yeah, why, what happened to her?!" Kai demanded, suddenly anxious. Ronin shook his head.

"She's fine, physically, saw her this morning. She's staying out at my apartment, they all are. But, the newspaper said that you're dead! Everyone thinks you're dead!"

Kai gave a laugh. "Skulkin spreading shit. I'm fine. But how did they get you?"

"They saw me on the street and assumed I'd been with your lot. Chucked me in a car. How long have you been here?"

"A week." Kai said dryly. He realised just how long ago her had last seen Nya. He yearned to be with her again, his little sister thought he was dead. He imagined her, worried, upset. He needed to reassure her. He needed to be with her again.

"I'm not fucking staying." Kai stood up. "Ronin, my man, we are escaping."

...

Jay kicked the door to the shed down. "Argh, my foot!" He clutched it. Nya rolled her eyes. "What, that genuinely hurts!"

"Hello?" Nya called. "Anyone here? We're here to help."

There was a hmming noise and a small thud from the corner of the room. The pair advanced and moved a few cardboard boxes to reveal a girl, around Jay's age with bright scarlet hair and a yellow hoodie. She looked scared.

"Hey, it's OK, we're gonna get you out." Nya put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Skylor, right?" The girl nodded. "Jay, knife."

"Wha-, oh right." He passed her a pocket knife. Nya cut Skylor's bonds and gag.

"Are you alright?" She asked. Skylor nodded.

"Could be worse." She said in an overly cheerful voice. She rubbed her wrists where the ropes had cut into them. "Who are you though... and where's my father?"

"Jail." Jay muttered quickly. "I saw it in the paper. And us, we're..." He struggled to think of what to say. Elemental Force? Normal civilians? Random teenagers?

"We're friends." Nya said quickly, helping Skylor stand up. "And we have somewhere safe for you to be, Skylor."

"Elemental Force." Skylor grinned as she recognised the jackets. "About time!"

"Erm, excuse me?" Jay questioned.

"Didn't you know?" Skylor cocked her head to one side, suddenly a lot more confident. "I've been a member since I was about twelve."

 **I feel like that was on the short/boring side, but I wanted to get it out because I'm going on camp for the weekend and couldn't spend too much time on it. Sorry :)**


	24. Mr Pale

**Sorry, it's been AGES, but I've had a busy week and last weekend I was away, soo yeah :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: Was it? Yay :) Does it? Thanks, in my opinion it goes up and down like a yoyo. Kind of, but he doesn't really know Lloyd that well, so he's not quite loyal, yet.**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Thanks, I appreciate your comments :) I did enjoy writing that scene, a little Jaya here and there does no harm. Thanks :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: I think we all knew that :) That was kind of a spur of the moment development, but I think I can make it work with my plans for the ending of this fic. Thanks :)**

 **Cerenda: Yep, he's nice like that. Hmm, maybe... ;) Yep, I was going to make them random people, maybe even cameo characters from the show, but then I remembered the Skulkin theme and immediately put them in there. Yep, Jaya date/hang out is in motion! And Skylor gets to third wheel! :) Thanks, I'll probably put a load more in, most of them I suppose, and more background details will come up for them this chapter.**

 **youknowwho: I got your PM before I saw this, but YES, YOU ARE BACK! :) In awe? Whoa, I must be getting good! Thank you :)**

 **Anyone else seen the latest episode? Who do you guys think Mistake is?**

As the door opened once again, Ronin was ready. It was a pretty smart plan from two school dropouts, and he actually thought it would work! Sure, he had an awful headache and there was a lot of blood on his shirt, but if this meant getting out of this shithole and possibly seeing his children again, then it was worth all that pain.

Kai lay in direct line of sight of the door as it opened. He screamed and writhed on the floor. The guard looked down at him and immediately took a step forward, forgetting his responsibility amongst all the shock. "Erm, are you OK?" He asked.

"Fucking help!" Kai cried, actual tears running down his cheeks. Whoa, Ronin thought, good acting from a kid who had dropped out of school when he was six. As the guard came closer, Ronin quickly dashed around the door and slammed it on Kai and the guard. It had actually worked? Whoa, that was one idiot of a Skulkin!

A few crashes and cries came from behind the closed door and Kai exited, dusting his hands off on his shirt.

"That was an easy one to take down." Ronin nodded.

"Now what?"

"Pick a direction, sneak and find a door, go through it, back to the, well, your apartment. Simple."

"I've heard simpler."

"We all have."

The pair went down the left corridor.

"There guys just love warehouses, don't they?"

"Uh-hu." Ronin wasn't really in the mood to talk, they'd got this far, but luck was on neither of their sides, never had been. But to Ronin's surprise, they made it as far as the fire escape. Just one problem. If someone opened this door, the fire alarm went off and that would make all the Skulkin rush out of the building and see them.

"Should we find another way out?" Ronin asked. Kai shrugged.

"We've made it this far. For all we know, it's a flat out run into the city and to my sister."

Ronin rolled his eyes. "You kids. Fine. Get ready to run."

Kai nodded, and Ronin opened the door.

...

Shade was working late again. He couldn't help it, he just didn't want to go back to the apartment. See all those sad faces again, be reminded that he wasn't normal, that he and his boyfriend were parts of a criminal gang and were in deep shit, hiding out from police, other gangs. It was unlikely things would ever be the same again for them.

"Hey bartender, can I get a re-fill?"

"Sure." Shade topped up the dude's glass, and stared. He was wearing a cop's uniform, yet treating a criminal like an equal, well not quite equal, but close! If only it could always be like this. But this cop was probably one of the ones who had been shooting at Shade a couple of weeks back. Possibly the one who had injured Griffin, no, Shade had killed that one. A accomplice of him? A friend? Was that what he was drinking so heavily for? He had been coming back here for a number of days, Shade noticed. Drinking his sorrows away...

Shade jumped as his phone blared into life. _'Cos I'm a twenty first century-_ Shade picked up.

"Hello?"

"Shade?" The voice was weak, but Shade recognised it immediately.

"Ash?!"

"Yep, that's me." It sounded like the other man was smiling, but it was definitely a strained smile.

"Ash, where have you been? You disappeared when-"

"When the cops busted our asses, I know. Shade, I need..." Ash's voice faded out into a bout of coughing. "Help."

"Ash, where are you?" Shae had already slammed his cleaning cloth onto the desk.

"Outside."

"Outside where, outside what?"

"I know where you..." More coughing. "Work."

Shade dropped his phone to the ground and ran out of the pub. By the steps lay a grey glad figure in a torn a shredded jacket lay by the steps, a battered phone lying next to him. The passers by probably thought Ash was another blackout drunk, and ignored him, but Shade dashed to his side at once.

"Ash? Ash! Are you with me?"

Ash gave a weak nod. His body was frail in Shade's arms.

"Sort of."

"Who did this to you?"

"Vermillion. Tried to take me, fought them off, almost..." Ash coughed again, blood forming on his lips.

"No Ash, come on. I know a safe place, your girlfriend is there. You're gonna be a father you can't just die on us!"

"I don't think I have a lot of choice in the matter." He gripped Shade's hand. "Just, don't leave me, listen please. I met someone, he can help us."

"What?"

"Mr Pale, he can... tell her I love her."

"No Ash, sit up." Shade felt panic beginning to flicker in his chest. "No, open your eyes Ash, please!"

But his friend was dead.

"No!" Shade screamed. "SHIT!"

He quickly rubbed his face dry. He heard a ringtone, ominous, not one he recognised. Shade looked up and saw a phone booth across the street. Was it... for him?

Shade gently laid Ash's body down on the ground, then went to the booth. He picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"I'm sorry for your loss." That was the first thing said. Shade frowned. He didn't recognise this voice, it was young and deep, like a badly disguised voice, but he didn't recognise it. Looking up, Shade glimpsed another phone booth across the street. A street lamp illuminated a shady looking figure in a scarf and hat.

"Do I know you?"

"You don't, no. I believe you know my name." Shade bit his lip.

"Mr Pale. What can I do for you?"

"No, but it is what I can do for you. Of late, I have decided to help people get out of the gang life and into stable homes. After last month's disaster, I believe my services are required." Shade bit his lip. The offer was tempting, but no one did something for nothing."

"What do you want in return?"

...

The fire alarm was one of the loudest Ronin had ever heard. The pair threw open the door and ran.

Just their luck, there was a chain link fence surrounding the warehouse Of course it wouldn't be that easy.

Nevertheless, the pair ran, but they heard shouts from behind them. Ronin ran a little faster and, being the one with longer legs, reached the fence first and scaled it easily. Kai had just reached the fence when Ronin hit the ground. Guns were out by now and at least twenty Skulkin were heading towards them. Shots were being fired and almost hitting Kai.

"Hurry up idiot!" Ronin yelled, but Kai tried to climb the fence. His arms were too weak to pull himself up, he hadn't eaten in days.

"Just go!" Kai yelled. "I won't make it!"

"Yes you will."

"No I won't. Ronin, go, tell them I'm alive, and my sister, I love her. Please."

Ronin nodded. "I will." He shook Kai's hand through the fence, just as a Skulkin reached Kai and slammed him to the ground.

"Got you now, little asshole."

Ronin took one look back, then ran for the safety of the streets.

Kai was hauled to his feet and dragged back through the compound, the warehouse, back through the same corridor. He was barely paying attention to the journey, he was screwed, he knew it.

"Just fucking kill me already." He told the guard, who laughed.

"In good time." He put Kai against the wall and fumbled with his keys to a cell, more secure than the little office Kai had been in earlier.

Then a voice came from one of the cells.

A single word uttered.

One that shocked Kai to the bone.

Just one word, one name.

"Ray?"


	25. Reunion Part One

**After episode 82, I was wondering if I should put Harumi in this for a sort of cameo? If you want to see that, please give me some ideas. Thanks :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: Because I love cliff-hangers! Yes, but are you sure it's the actual Mr Pale? Not someone else using a false name? Just saying... Well, we lost in the end, and it's pretty much blown over by now. I'm surprised I didn';t hear cheers though, I live next door to a pub!**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Maybe... ;)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: I like the new picture, that's to do with Jaya and season 10, isn't it? I know, I like writing sad scenes and that was one of my favourites. Why yes, yes it was :)**

 **Cerenda: Yep, sort of what I was going for there, thanks. It's nice to know that you can feel sad about someone you never really cared for because of my writing (Harumi). I know :( Well, you'll find out this chapter who said that :) Yes, Twenty First Century Ninja, not one of their best (my opinion, not fact) but it's worth a listen :)**

 **le6mew: That moment will come, but not too soon, sorry :)**

 **And the plot returns to the thing the story has been named after...**

Shade was in a foul mood when he crashed into the apartment early from work. He didn't expect anything out of the ordinary, so was shocked to see a new addition to the apartment's small family sat on the couch, a person he knew rather well.

"Skylor!" Shade gasped, for a moment, forgetting all about his problems. "W, what... how did you get here? I thought you were captured by the Skulkin."

"I was, yes." Skylor nodded, looking laid back and comfortable in her orange Elemental Force Jacket. "Until these two busted me out." She smiled at Jay and Nya, who were looking happy, only Jay seemed slightly uncomfortable. To Shade's surprise, Wu and Dareth were also there, neither looking very well, but they seemed OK.

"We were going to finally gather ourselves a plan of action." Wu said, motioning for Shade to sit down. "As far as we know, this is all there is left of Elemental Force."

"There's still Ash, Gravis and Karlov." Chamille argued, rubbing her stomach gently. "We haven't seen them since the re-enactment of the Chen event."

Shade sighed. He hated to say it, but the others had to know what he did. "Karlov was arrested." He said. "Serving five years in jail. Gravis is in hospital, but still under police custody. And Ash..." He sighed. "I'm sort Chamille, but Ash isn't coming back."

Chamille gave a tiny nod, understanding at once. Shade admired her for this, always strong, always a fighter, just like Ash had been this morning.

"I see." She muttered. "That's unfortunate." She looked down at the floor. Tox rubbed her back sympathetically.

"How do you know this, Shade?" Wu asked. Shade sighed again.

"I met Ash earlier today, he, um, didn't last long, but he told me about someone who can help us, a Mr Pale. Then I spoke with said Mr Pale by phone. He said he'd be able to get us all safely and legally out of the gang life, on one request."

"And what was that?"

"That we give him, the Elemental Tasers."

The effect was immediate. The teenagers gasped and looked at one another, Wu frowned dangerously, Dareth seemed to be considering and Tox and Griffin looked towards Shade for more information.

"That is a strange request to make." Dareth noted. "Few civilians even know about the Elemental Tasers's existence. I hope you didn't promise anything, this man could be Skulkin or Vermillion, or even the police!"

"Vermillion?" Zane asked.

"Basically the underdogs of Ninjago City's crime world." Griffin explained. "They're a slave trade of sorts, buy captives or capture them for or off other gangs, or weapons, illegal drugs, whatever's popular on the market. They don't really have a side in the gang war, they'll do any task for money."

"Slave trade?" Cole exclaimed. "That's disgusting."

"Well, it's not them, because they are the ones who... killed Ash." Shade announced.

"So he could be one stupid and brave Skulkin, or genuinely someone who wants to help." Wu noted.

"Or the police." Skylor reminded him, and he gave a small nod.

"Or the police. But either way, I think it is best if we find the Elemental Tasers finally. They are powerful weapons and maybe, just maybe, this Mr Pale bloke can help us."

Everyone was surprised at this, even Dareth. it was the most positive and trusting thing they had ever heard Wu say to anyone.

"So, where do we find these... Elemental Tasers?" Jay asked after a long pause. Wu gave a small grin, an even bigger surprise.

"You're forgetting one thing. We have a map."

...

Kai's mouth dropped open, and he moved slightly away from the guard and towards the cell from which the voice had come.

Hardly daring to believe it, Kai opened his mouth to a whisper.

"Hello?"

There was a small window in the cell door and, Kai's mouth dropped open as a dirty, ragged and messy black haired woman appeared at the window. She frowned at the boy in front of her. A boy who knew it had been ten years, but recognised her immediately. He felt his throat choke up.

"Who are you?!" The woman demanded angrily. "You are not my husband, but you look like him, so that can only mean... no..."

"Mum!" Kai gasped, feeling himself tear up. "It, it's me. Kai."

"Kai, no..." Maya gasped, her eyes filling with tears too. "Kai, my baby boy, you can't be here, did they come for you, the bastards?!"

"Um, well, it's a bit more complicated than that, but... mum, I thought you and dad abandoned us!" Maya put a hand to her mouth.

"No, I would never, I love you Kai, and your sister, oh Nya, she must be twelve by now..."

"Fourteen." Kai felt choked. "She had her birthday two months ago."

"Oh my..." Maya gazed into her son's eyes. "I've missed so much! Kai-"

"OK, that was cute." The guard behind Kai said with a grin. "Time to go." And he roughly grabbed Kai and threw him into the cell next to his mother's."

"No!" Kai yelled, but he felt the door locked. "Shit, mum, can you hear me?"

Silence.

"No! Mum, mummy, please!" Kai wiped his face angrily. Then came her voice again.

"There are pipes connecting the rooms Kai." She said, her voice sounding hollow, coming from a water pipe in the back of the cell. Kai felt foolish, and went over to it.

"You haven't called me mummy since you were three." Maya remarked, but she sounded choked up.

"I, err, just missed you so much!" Kai gasped, wiping his face, although the tears were unstoppable. "Mum, the Skulkin took you, didn't they? Where?"

"Here." Maya said sadly. "I have been here for the past decade of your life, Kai I can't believe I've missed it all! Who did you get to take care of you? Griffin and Shade? Oh don't tell me you called Wu!"

"Erm, well... I didn't really know where you kept your record book, sooo..." Kai rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"Don't tell me you've raised Nya... alone? In that crappy apartment with no money or... oh my..."

"It wasn't that bad mum, really!" Kai insisted. "I got a job from the landlord for the first three years, erm, cleaning..." Kai heard a sob break his mother's lips and decided not to continue.

"Kai, I am so sorry!" Maya sobbed. "If only I'd known, you raised your sister from a toddler, alone!"

"Yeah, but I'm responsible!" Kai reassured her. "We were fine, we got by." He then began to outline his young life, Nya's first friend, the kind woman next door who had invited them in for meals occasionally, and had taught Nya to read while Kai had been working within the building's walls. he left out the fact that her friend had robbed and bullied her when she found out that Nya was so poor, and that the old woman had been murdered by her abusive husband. Only the good parts. He heard his mum laugh for the first time in ten years. Kai laughed too, it was ridiculous, knowing the situation. That they were both captives and could be killed any day just for being in the way.

But for the first time in many weeks, Kai didn't care about any of it. Not the Skulkin, the Elemental Tasters, the fact he may never see his sister again, none of it. He had his mum and a smile on his face. Right now, what could go wrong?

...

Find one of the most powerful weapons ever invented using a photocopied map along with a team you barely knew. What could go wrong?

That thought did not occur in Zane's mind, only worry. He was too concerned about the mission to be hopeful. Truthfully, Zane hadn't really been happy since Kai's death had been announced. He remembered back to when Wu had laid out their roles in the team, damn that had been a while ago! Cole, the strong leader, Jay, fast and capable, Zane, smart and calculated. Zane now knew what Kai was. The spirit of the time. the one who truly gave himself to the fight, meant every word he said, every time he pulled the trigger, he wanted to hurt that person for everything they had ever done. A little sadistic and scary, but that made Kai, Kai. And now that was gone.

Zane trudged along behind his comrades, Skylor and Griffin, lost in thought. Obviously, Cole Jay and Zane had wanted to be in a team together, but Wu and Dareth had insisted that each group had to have an experienced adult with them. He and Dareth still weren't well enough to join them, but would keep in contact through walkie talkie from the base of operations (Ronin's apartment). Zane and his comrades were heading for the furthest across town Elemental Taser. Cole, Chamille and Shade were heading to the most dangerous area, the warehouse district on the outskirts, and Jay, Tox and Nya were on their way up the tallest tower of the city (goodness knows how Kai's parents had gotten up there!). But Zane didn't have high hopes about their mission.

He was sick of his gang life, so he knew what happened to his parents and he had friends, but his best one had died and his parents were gone also. Zane wasn't sure what he preferred more, not knowing, or knowing the truth.


	26. A shtty circumstance

**Watch the clip for the 4 episode special, I was ****ing hyperventilating by the end, I'm so excited! :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: That happens sometimes, it's annoying. But thanks for doing it again :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yeah, they're starting to get their act together, finally. And Wu's recovered, so he can whip them into shape! :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Thanks, I tried to make it as cute and sad as I could :) I think they were always going to return to the team before ditching, maybe wait a few days, but now they're stuck in again!**

 **Cerenda: Yeah, that kind of got lost in the stream of things, but they're about to be found! :) Those are good ideas for her, I may use one later on :) That's strange, because they're the three I don't really know that well. I like 21st century ninja and day of the departed.**

 **Lots of you wanted me to put Harumi in this, so I'll see what I can do :)**

"Sooo, what do these Elemental Tasers look like exactly?" Skylor asked Griffin, who sighed. This was the fifth of the girl's annoying questions so far. Griffin had always liked Skylor, but to be honest right now, she was being more annoying than Jay, more annoying than himself!

"Oh look, we're here!" He exclaimed, trying to make her shut up.

"So, what does it look like?" Skylor repeated. "Just curious!" When Griffin gave her a 'look'.

"No one knows." Zane said, coming up behind them. "Only Wu and Garmadon and their father. If you were that curious, you should have asked before we left."

Skylor rolled her eyes. "So we're here then." She said, changing the subject. "Where exactly is here?"

Griffin pointed. Ninjago City was built against a tall rise of mountains, the desert on two sides, forest on another, and some very tall and sloping mountains that framed a fifth of it in shadow, like it was doing now.

"It's up there?" Zane asked, a note of nerves in his voice. Griffin checked the map and nodded.

"Uh hu. Brace yourselves kids, we've got a lot of climbing to do!"

...

It seemed a strange arrangement at first. Two of the gang's strongest members and one of it's most ferocious fighters, only she was recently stilled over the news of her boyfriend's death, but nevertheless, in a team.

But Cole had figured it out. This area of the city was most likely to contain Skulkin. He was the strongest of the teenagers and their best fighter now Kai was gone. Shade was easily the most capable and strong willed of the adults and it seemed sensible for an old friend to be consoling Chamille. Cole admired how this scheme had been put together. He had thought the grouping was random, but Wu and Dareth had obviously thought about it a lot. Skylor seemed rather excitable and may be able to stray the less level headed Griffin Turner from task, but they made a very good team, so what better arrangement than to send the most serious of the teens to accompany them. And Jay and Nya got on very well, but Nya was still inexperienced, and Tox was a professional. And two women would likely put Jay in his place. Yep, very clever on their part.

Shade stopped to check the map.

"OK, according to this, Cole should be stood on it." He said. Cole looked down on instinct. Nothing there.

"Which means it should be buried." Chamille stated. Shade nodded.

"But unless this path has been replaced any time in the past ten years, which it hasn't, this stone is far too thick to dig through.

"Which means..." Cole trailed off as the realisation hit him. "No!"

"Yes." Shade said grimly. All three of them turned to look at a grate, ten yards down, which lead into the city's sewage.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

...

"So that is Borg tower." Jay stated. "AWESOME!" The other two looked at him. "What? I happen to be a huge fan!"

"Remember, we're here for the Taser, not an autograph." Tox reminded him, and Jay rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, boss."

Nya stifled a laugh. Jay was growing on her spectacularly fast. They had chatted a bit on the way here, and he had seemed kind of embarrassed to admit he had been raised on a junk yard. Nya had quickly consoled him with stories of her childhood, raised in poverty, always cared for by her older brother. She tried not to tear up.

"Damn, Kai didn't tell us much, just that his parents abandoned him and his sister when he was young. You sure had it worse than I did!"

Jay always seemed to know what to say to take her mind off Kai's death. He had that certain excitable magic about him that was so different from Kai's fierce protectiveness, though it was evident he would take care of her just the same. Too bad though. Nya needed to take care of herself for a bit.

"So, how will we get inside?" She asked Tox, who squinted at the entrance. The three of them were concealed behind trash cans, observing the entrance. "There's security cameras everywhere!"

"I suppose we'll have to smuggle ourselves in."

"Oh yeah!" Jay grinned. "Disguise time!"

A bus pulled up outside the tower. A security guard came up to them.

"Sorry mate, can't park here."

"Come on, it's a school trip. I got two dozen nightmares of teenagers in the back of this and they're driving me nuts."

"High school? I got told it was kindergarten coming today!" The man groaned. "Nevertheless, can't drop 'em off here. Park round the block."

The bus drove off.

"You know what." Tox gave a sly smile. "I may just have an idea."

...

Zane was breathless from the climbing, but knew they were nowhere near their destination. The map was leading them right to the top, the snowiest, steepest peaks, damn it Kai's parents! Right now, they had only climbed a quarter, and it was already dangerous.

"You think they couldn't have put the damn thing a little closer to home?" Skylor panted as she arrived next to Zane who was waiting for the others to catch up. "I mean, I'm freezing!"

"Cold doesn't bother me." Zane said stiffly. "It's the heat I'm not too fond of."

"The cold never bothered me anyway!" Skylor sang. **(why Frozen why?!)** "Where's Griffin got to though?" She leaned over the peak where they were resting. "Hey Griffin, you alright down there?" She called.

"Could be worse!" Griffin joked from ten feet below them. "But really, I think we should turn back. Come back with better gear and more people."

"No way!" Skylor and Zane said at once.

"We've come so far, and I'm not going back without that weapon!" Skylor exclaimed.

"Plus we're not too far from the Taser anyway." Zane said hopefully. "As we adjust, the climb will get easier and will seem less cold."

"Is that a fact."

"I think I read it somewhere." Zane knew exactly where he had read it, a book that contained no sense whatsoever. What they were doing was mad, but like Skylor, Zane wasn't going back to base without the Taser.

"You kids are insane!" Griffin exclaimed. "Well wait there, I'm just com- argh!" He gave a yelp and disappeared.

...

"Shit shit shit." Chamille muttered. "I am freaking covered in shit."

"The more you talk about it, the worse the situation seems to get." Shade muttered. "Just shut up."

"Yeah, I can literally feel the infections crawling up my legs." Cole muttered as the three of them waded through the stinking sewage, thigh deep. He tried not to think about all the germs he could get from what went down a toilet. And the smell, oh gosh, T-shirt over his nose and mouth was failing him. Cole shut his eyes (it was so dark it didn't really matter much) and thought of the deodorant can the three boys shared, so low on it's sweet smelling liquid. And the leaky old shower in the bathroom that never ran hot water for more than five seconds. And the kitchen, with it's mould growing on the ceiling, but nevertheless, the smell of Nya's fresh bread could always shine through. The bread was disgusting. But all that seemed like paradise now.

"OK, taser should be around here somewhere." Shade stopped them, pulling out a flashlight. He flicked it on. "Keep your eyes peeled."

Cole looked up, not wanting to see the source of the disgusting smell. His mouth opened wide and the T-shirt fell back around his neck. "Erm, guys."

They followed his gaze.

"No." Shade said flatly.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

A walkway ran from one end of the sewage tunnel to the other, well within reach, not something to eat dinner off, but it seemed like a bed in a five star hotel compared to their current path. But that wasn't all. A light switch. And worse of all, a ventilation system.

They looked at each other.

"Not a word about this to anyone." Shade said, and they all nodded in agreement.

...

The school trip headed into the building and the three nodded at each other. Jay and Nya had snuck onto the bus and stolen some spare garments of spare uniform, while Tox had neatened herself up the best she could and they had hidden their jackets in their bags. The three of them approached the security guard at the door.

"Hey, sorry, lagged behind the rest of the group." Tox smiled in the polite and flustered way a teacher might. "William here," She clamped her hand on Jay's shoulder, who tried to look sincere. "Left his mobile on the bus, and we had to go get it."

The security guard frowned. "I thought there was only meant to be twenty four kids today."

"Oh the number got changed, a few spots opened up. Didn't you hear?"

The guard sighed, but his shift was almost up and he wanted to go catch a movie with some of his mates. "OK, whatever babe. In you go."

"Thank you." Tox smiled, and ushered the kids inside, pretending to have a go at Jay. But they smiled, and followed the school group down a corridor, but broke off the moment they saw a lift.

"And up we go." Jay muttered. "Good work people."

"Thanks. I wasn't sure that would work!" Tox exclaimed as they pressed the button for the lift. The lift dinged as it arrived and they stepped forwards. Surely it couldn't be this easy, could it?

Of course it couldn't. Because there was already someone inside.

 **I was gonna finish this properly with the completion of their missions, but I thought, hey, what the heck, let's give those readers another delightful little cliffhanger ;)**

 **But anyway, I'm back, my little brother gave us all colds and the weather was AWFUL on the way back, but I survived and I return. Hope you enjoyed :)**


	27. Snowflaked, Shit Caked and Awe Struck

**CHEESEPUFF fg: I kind of got that idea from a book I read, but it was so good and funny that I couldn't resist :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yep, time of their lives. These missions are more extravagant than originally thought by the gang members, but hey, what's life without action! :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: I kind of guessed you wouldn't be able to, good you did anyway though :) Good to know that, here it is :)**

For a moment, Zane thought he would have to report back to Wu and Dareth with no Taser, but a dead body. Then Griffin shouted up.

"I'm OK! My leg just gave out, I slipped on the..." He trailed off.

"Are you coming up?" Skylor called, uncertainly. Another pause.

"Guys, I don't think I can move it." Griffin sounded like he was in a lot of pain. "And the mountain only gets steeper. I suggest we head back and come back tomorrow, with more people-"

"No." Zane said, almost desperately. "Are you sure you can't come up?"

"The wound's re-opened, either I ignore it and die of blood loss, or I stay here and make sure it's OK."

"OK then." Zane called, taking charge. "Skylor, you go down there. Make sure he's OK, get back to headquarters."

"And you?"

"I'm getting that Taser."

"Zane, no, not by yourself-"

"We don't have a choice!" Zane snapped, rounding on her. "You know what happened to Ash, what happened to Kai! This gang war is getting worse and more brutal by the second, too much for us kids! If we can get out of it, and the police get these prototypes, we might just stand a chance!"

Skylor sighed.

"I've been in this job longer than you have. Maybe-"

"No." Griffin called up to them. "Skylor, we know you don't like to back down, but this is Zane's fight. And speaking of fights, I wouldn't be surprised if the Skulkin were waiting for us at the foot of this thing."

Skylor sighed, but gave Zane a handshake and a nod of good luck. Then she scrambled down the cliff to the ledge where Griffin had ended up. The pair looked up to see that Zane was already re-starting the climb, hands tucked inside his jacket sleeves for warmth.

"That kid's gonna die up there!" Griffin worried.

...

After manuvering themselves up onto the walkway, Cole, Shade and Chamille continued to search through the sewage, the lights on overhead so they could see better.

"Dibs first shower when we get back." Chamille muttered. Cole tried to argue, but Shade put a hand over his mouth.

"It's best to let a woman have her way on this one. Trust me, I know." Cole rolled his eyes, but it felt kind of good to be addressed like a friend, an equal by such a prominent member of the gang as Shade. Cole may be the leader of his team, but he was far from Shade's level.

"Guys, eyes on the prize." Chamille called from up ahead. "Sheesh, where could they even have PUT this thing!"

Something occurred to Cole as she said this, and his eyes swept the sewer. It was old, made of those big red bricks, circular shaped. Hadn't been updated in a while, over one hundred years, he would bet. So either Kai's parents had been stupid enough to put the weapon in plain sight, like on the walkway, which he doubted, or-

"Shit." He muttered. "Guys, I think I know where this weapon is."

...

Jay sqeaked as the lift door opened. He couldn't believe it. Years of waiting for YouTube clips to load with his childhood home's stinking desert Wi-Fi, being a dedicated Chirp follower, mending the dog eared posters on his bedroom wall with care and affection...

To see the man in flesh standing less than three feet away... Jay was struggling to stay standing.

Well, not really standing, as he wheeled himself past, giving orders to the woman stood next to him about flying cars... FLYING CARS! But Cyrus Borg seemed a little smaller in person, a bit more timid, a bit more... well, nerdy!

Kind of like Jay himself.

"Erm, Jay?" Nya shook him by the shoulder. "They're gone, you can stop standing rigid and smiling now."

"Gotta admit, that was a close one." Tox commented.

"Cyrus Borg!" Jay whispered, still awe struck.

"Huh?"

"That was Cyrus Borg!" Jay squeaked. "My idol since I was seven and mum bought his new multi function micro wave. Inventor of the Borg Sauna hot pocket, Borg pad, Borg watch and everything else totally awesome! And to the sound of it, soon to be the flying car!"

"The what?" Nya shrugged.

"He's just having a fangirl moment." Tox said with a grin. "Come on Jay, we've got to get to..." She checked the map. "The top of the building. Oh great."

The three of them entered the lift and Tox hit the button for the top floor.

...

Zane shivered a little as he climbed. Even though he wasn't usually bothered by cold temperatures, this was a freaking mountain and he didn't even have a coat!

Oh well. May as well freeze to death than die in a fire. Zane had escaped that fate twice, so it seemed only natural that he would get a new, near death experience.

Or...

Zane felt his hand brush against something fluffy. Thinking it was an animal of some sorts, he drew back, but it didn't move. Zane drew himself up to the ledge to see...

A dead body? No, a...

Store mannequin? He laughed to see the wooden mannequin up there, posed in a thinking position, wrapped in a fluffy white coat. There was a bronze engraved plaque at it's feet.

" _In memory of Mr First, the founding saviour of many people in this city._

Zane shrugged, but as he pulled himself up to the ledge and sat next to the wooden mannequin, he understood. From here, you could see the whole city, from the warehouses where the Skulkin lurked, to the really posh estates where Wu and Garmadon had probably been raised. He could even see all the way out to the desert where he had trained alongside Kai...

Zane wiped his eyes. In short, it was a beautiful sight. It seemed only fitting that this monument should be place somewhere where no one really noticed it, but it could see over the whole city.

Founding saviour indeed. Apologising to the memory of the man, Zane pulled the coat from the mannequin and wrapped it around himself. Surprisingly, it fitted. It was warm and snuggly and Zane instantly felt better. It felt like there was something in the pockets, but Zane didn't really care. The mannequin looked a little skinny and unimportant now, without it's robe, but Zane could hardly give this freedom fighter his gang jacket. So instead, he took some nearby snow and packed around the mannequin until it... sort of resembled a jacket? It would have to do.

Zane smiled at his ancestor. "Thanks, Wu senior." He said, then continued his climb.

...

"Are you OK down there?" Chamille called.

"Just fine. Me and the bacteria are having a nice conversation about current affairs." Cole grimaced as he sifted through another load of sewage, some of which was most likely older than he was. He was knelt in the stuff, up to his waist. He had officially stolen first place in the shower from Chamille.

"You want me to take over?" Shade called from where he was leant against the wall, a rope in his hand. The other end of said rope was tied around Cole's waist, in case there was a cave in, or a particularly deep load of sewage.

"No. But there's a giant rat on your shoulder."

Shade gave a yell and hit the animal as Cole and Chamille laughed. Then returned to the search.

Cole had theorised that Ray and Maya had put the Taser in the worst place possible, attatched to a brick or disguised as one. It seemed likely, as the Skulkins wouldn't go as far as sifting through literal shit to get it.

Or would they? Because Elemental Force certainly were.

Cole's hands were submerged pretty much up to his elbows, and he was scrabbling around at the brick, not really knowing what to look for. Well, feel for. But they had come this far. There was no way he was giving up.

"You do realise we've been down here for about three hours, right? Face it Cole, we won't be finding the stupid thing today!"

"Not. Listening!" Cole felt an itch on his face and scratched it. Only then did he realise that his nose was now smeared with the stuff. He gaged.

"Are you OK down there?"

"Yeah, totally tip top!"

...

The lift made a regular dinging sound as the three emerged at the top of the building. Nya winced, as the sound was incredibly loud to her ears. It was as well that she was cautious and edgy, as there was a problem waiting for them.

A very big problem.

"Just look at that flag!" A voice exclaimed, a familiar voice. "Do you think we should change it to our own?"

"You idiot! Then they'll know we're here!"

Tox stiffened, recognising the voices at once. She covered the kid's mouths and pulled them out of the lift and to hide behind some funnels on the edge. From here they had a good view of the rooftop.

Two Skulkins were stood by the massive flagpole that rose out of the roof like a needle. One had a Mohawk and eyepatch, and the other was much more muscular. They were arguing amongst themselves.

"Are they the same ones we saw when we rescued Skylor?" Nya whispered to Jay.

"Yeah, I think so." Jay nodded. "Still arguing.

"Should we take them?"

"We did it last time. And I bet they still aren't armed!"

"You read my mind." The teens gripped their weapons and made to ambush, but Tox grabbed them and pulled them back.

"Are you two insane?! If these guys are really as you say they are, then do you really think Garmadon would have sent them to get one of the Tasers, alone?"

"How do we know they're here for that?"

"What else would they be here for?"

"Does that mean..." Jay suddenly looked scared. "They have a map?"

"Maybe. Or..." Tox gasped.

"What?" Nya asked.

"Guys. We may have a traitor in our midst."

...

Zane scrambled up another slope, a lot warmer now he had the coat, but still pretty cold. And it would only get colder. Zane looked at the snowflake symbol on his gang jacket.

"Don't fail me now!" He muttered. He clambered up another slope to find...

To find-

Seven Skulkins all dressed in heavy winter gear and all holding guns. Zane gave a terrified squeak.

"Hey there sunshine." One of them said, and Zane felt a heavy gun connect with his temple. He wasn't even awake to see his blood spill and mingle with the white flakes of the snow.

...

"Guys, I can hear footsteps!" Chamille gasped, on her feet in an instant. Shade (who had appeared to be half asleep) jerked awake in an instant. Cole was so surprised he fell flat on his face.

"No!" He yelped as he rose again, his face covered in...

Yeah, you get the idea.

"A janitor?" He asked.

"No, several people, running, it's them, it's the Skulkin!" The boys gasped and Shade helped Cole out of the sewage.

"Run!"

They started off.

"No, other way?"

"They're coming from there too!"

"We're surrounded!"

"We're doomed!"

"Pull yourselves together!" Cole snapped. Something about being covered in other people's waste had really taken it's toll. He was covered in brown from head to toe, only his vivid hazel eyes showing through. He had a large rat sticking out of his pocket. He looked demented. But he didn't really care.

The others nodded and the three of them ran round the corner...

Only to come face to face with Skulkin, over ten of them, all holding little guns.

"Really. Tranquilizer-" Shade began, but he was shot before he could even finish his sentence.

 **Sorry for the lack of Kai in recent chapters, but we'll see him next chapter :)**


	28. Reunion Part Two

**Since you all wanted Harumi, she'll come in this chapter, but not in a way you'd expect!**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: It's sort of a monument, not really to be seen by everyone, but as a token of respect for the guy. And it has other uses as well. As you will see :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: No, not good at all. No, they didn't, they're just ignoring Kai at this point, keeping him in the jail. Not easily, I can tell you that.**

 **MasterofCupcakes: I really did enjoy writing Cole's part. Being among the sewage just made him crack. It was fun. Jay being a fangirl over Cyrus Borg was fun to write too. Good, nice to know :)**

 **Cerenda: Yeah, bonding with the EF gang, it was good to put that in and I wanted to show more of the other gang members as well. Cole's bit is one of my favourites, and Zane's was good to write too, showing his determination to prove himself. Thanks for your long review, I appreciate it. :)**

"Try it again." Wu said, his fingers drumming on the arm of his chair, his own radio being clutched tightly in his hand.

Dareth tried again. "Griffin? Come in-" The door opened with a bang.

"You called?" Came the voice of Griffin Turner. "You two should lock this, by the way?"

"Turner!" Wu exclaimed. "Where's the rest of your team?"

"My leg gave out." Griffin explained as he sat down and rolled up his trouser leg. "Zane went after the Taser and Skylor helped me, but then she went to examine something and didn't return."

"Shoot." Dareth muttered. "We've lost two of them?!"

"Call the others!" Wu commanded his leader, his stress levels increasing dramatically. "Shade, Tox-"

"No answer." Dareth said quickly, putting down his radio. "We need to get out there. The Skulkin must have intercepted the mission!"

"But how?"

"Well, the only explanation I can think of is... Is a traitor."

...

Jay looked acorss the rooftop towards Nya, who was crouched behind another funnel. She nodded at him. He turned his head towards Tox, who was hidden by the stairwell. He nodded at her to show her that they were ready. She nodded back.

The plan was simple. Since Kruncha and Knuckle had already seen Jay and Nya, Tox was to go and distract them while the teens attacked from behind. It would obviously work.

No, scrap that. Probably.

Tox emerged from her hiding place and headed towards the two Skulkin, who were still arguing. She coughed to get their attention.

"Are you two meant to be up here?" She asked sternly. "This is a clearance only area."

"Oh we have clearance!" Kruncha gave a nod and they pulled shiny, laminated badges out of their pockets. "We've come to check out the flag, see if it needs maintaining or anything." Knuckle gave a nod of agreement.

"What about YOU? Do YOU have clearance, miss?" Knuckle asked. Tox mentally screamed at the kids to hurry up, as she was starting to get intimidated.

Jay and Nya had been slowly creep up behind the men, looked at each other and with three quick steps, they leapt forwards and bashed the Skulkins on the head with the butts of their guns.

The men stumbled. But they did not fall.

"What the-" The Skulkin turned to see Jay and Nya behind them, and gasped. "Backup! We need backup! It's Elemental Force-"

The door to the stairwell burst open and the three of them were instantly swamped by Skulkin gang members.

Jay gave a yell and ducked the grabs coming at him from every side. He lashed out and ran towards the seemingly best spot, the flagpole. Nya and Tox were instantly captured and about twenty Skulkins were heading his way. Jay looked up at the impossibly tall flagpole and leapt onto it, climbing it like a rope.

"He's crazy!" A Skulkin exclaimed, seeing the teenage boy climbing up the flagpole that definitely didn't go anywhere.

"That's Jay for you!" Nya gasped.

Jay felt the wind in his hair, swaying the structure and threatening to deposit him back amongst his enemies. Jay reached the top. He was now at the highest point in the city. Although this had been on his bucket list for as long as he could remember, this was not a good time for a celebration.

The flagpole wiggled, and Jay looked down to see Skulkins climbing after him.

"Shit!" Jay clung to the top of the flagpole in distress. Hs scrabbled around and his hand clutched around something. A chain. Jay ripped it away from the masking tape that held it there. It was a necklace of sorts. Ignoring the fact that the prospect of a rather familiar looking necklace randomly taped to a flagpole on top of the city was completely random and ridiculous, Jay swung it and it smacked onto the head of a Skulkin, knocking him off. Jay cheered, but his swing had been too heavy. Jay lost his footing and screamed as he fell twelve feet onto the hard, concrete roof. He was unconscious at once.

...

Kai had enjoyed meeting his mother again. It had been the best thing to happen to him in a long time. But rather than let them enjoy each other's company and talk longer, Kai had been moved after just half an hour. He had fought of course, and been knocked out.

He now began to come round due to a truly disgusting smell.

"Urgh..." Kai groaned and opened his eyes. It was all dark and his head hurt, nothing new then. But this time, he wasn't in a bed. He was tied to a chair, and the smell was getting worse.

"Hello?" He called. "Anyone?"

A voice replied at once. "Who are you?" It sounded familiar. Very familiar...

"Zane!" Kai gasped. "Is that you?"

Silence for a while. Then,

"How do you know my name? Where am I?" Zane sounded angry and demanding.

"Someone's been taking lessons from Wu." Kai muttered. "It's me, Kai."

"No, it can't be..." Zane trailed off. "Kai's dead."

"No, I'm..." Kai sighed. "Who told you that?"

"The paper. The police."

"Skulkin must have tipped them." Kai muttered. "Have you got a light, then you'll see it."

Zane said nothing, probably thinking.

Kai leaned back, looking around, nudging the chair he was tied to, this way and that. Something nudged against his foot. It felt like...

"An electric candle?" Kai exclaimed. "Oh typical Skulkin, leave the thing you need just in arm's reach." Kai frowned, and slipped his shoe off. With his toes, he flipped it over and turned it on. Both he and Zane flinched at the light.

"They're always doing this." Kai explained. "I think it's sort of an inside joke."

The light was dim, but Kai could just make out Zane, wrapped in some ridiculously fluffy gown. And he was staring right at Kai with an expression of extreme disbelief.

"Kai! It is you!" Zane gasped. Kai gave a sheepish smile.

"Surprise!" He said weakly. A tear fell down Zane's cheek and he just stared. Kai stared back, wondering what would come next.

"I really want to hug you." Zane said after a while. "But I fear the knots are too tight." Kai laughed and they both wriggled around a bit on their chairs.

"So you know what the smell-" Kai began, but he heard a stirring to his left.

"Huh? Shade, Chamille... shit."

"Cole?" Zane exclaimed, as the light wouldn't quite reach their comrade at his position. "Wait, is Jay here too?"

A pause. "Kai? Is that... is that you?"

"Sure is." Kai's head was swimming with relief, but concern also. If his teammates were here, then they were all in danger.

But where was Jay?

"Urgh, what stinks like shit..."

There he was.

"Jay, it's Kai!" Zane exclaimed. "Guys, are we all here, I... our missions, the Tasers!" He suddenly sounded extremely worried.

"Wait, the Tasers?" Kai exclaimed. "What are you doing about them?"

"Kai's alive!" Jay sang to himself. "The world has gone crazy! Like me!"

Kai rolled his eyes, even though no one could really see it. The light from the candle was dimming, and he could barely see Zane any more, let alone any of the others.

He listened as Cole filled him in.

"Mr Pale sounds shady." He said after a long pause. "But, they captured my sister?! And other gang members? Then why are we the only ones in here? And what-" Kai stopped himself because he could feel anxiety creeping in. What was this all about? Did the Skulkin have a plan, or was it random?

As if on cue, the sound of a door unlocking came. The boys stiffened and stopped talking.

The door opened and light spilled in, blinding Kai, who was nearest. He squinted and looked.

A tall, muscular figure in a fedora was a framed silhouette in the doorway. The boys gulped. They knew who this was. Mr G.

"Hello boys." The Skulkin leader said, a sadistic smile playing on his lips. "Sorry I had to intercept your little game. See, just like my brother, I don't really want these Tasers to be found by anyone. So it's better they have a new hiding place? Don't you think. Like a nice handy safe." Kai scowled.

"Get lost. Leave the weapons where they are, the guys didn't even find them!" He scowled at Mr G with the ferocity that earned him the title Zane had given him in his head. The spirit of the team.

"No, but they know where they are, don't they?" Mr G took a step forwards, bringing out the necklace that had dragged Kai into this mess in the first place. "And since I couldn't get a map out of this, there must be one somewhere, so WHERE?"

"We don't have them." Jay said. "We're kids. We wouldn't be trusted with such importance."

"Yes, you are kids." Garmadon said with a nod. "Kids that have caused me a lot of trouble. You kids and this necklace." He flicked it with a finger.

"That is MINE!" Kai snarled. Garmadon rolled his eyes.

"Bit feminine, don't you think. Keep it, it's worthless." He tossed into Kai's lap.

"But if you tell where these Tasers are, it will save you a whole lot of trouble." Garmadon leant against a wall. "For example, I will let you go free. Maybe even pay you for your time. Just think, enough money to support your family," He looked at Kai and Jay. "To start your own business, perhaps?" His eyes swept over Zane and Cole.

"We don't know where they are!" Zane protested.

"You needn't worry about betraying Elemental Force. They're not quite the good guys you think." Garmadon grinned nastily at the teens before him. "There are secrets secrets that would make you run the opposite way as fast as your premature legs would carry you." Cole scoffed.

"We know you're worse." Jay snapped. "You killed my sister!"

"And kidnapped mine."

"And murdered my parents!"

"Criminal gangs do a lot of bad things and Elemental Force are no exception." Garmadon dismissed their words with a simple wave of his hand. "Do you REALLY know what happened at the Chen event?"

"You kidnapped and almost killed a little girl." Cole said. Garmadon laughed.

"Is that what they told you?! Well, how about you hear it, from someone who was there." Garmadon gestured to the door.

"Come on in, Harumi."

And Skylor walked through the door.


	29. Dareth actually is a badass

**Argh, sorry for the wait, I had to go back to school and the drive to write stuff has been failing me :( But I'm glad you liked the last chapter :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: Indeed :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: It wasn't originally planned, but I quite like the idea now. Well, yeah, they do, but they could start getting better at some point. Thanks :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Thanks, it was an idea I was unsure about, but I'm glad some people liked it :) You'll find out this chapter...**

 **Cerenda: Well since they have a more of a deep friendship in this story, I felt the need to make it special for them. Well Jay just went a little mad with fear there, but him doing that was rather important to the story, as you'll see later on :) Well... sort of. You'll find out.**

 **Hehe, you guys are in for a shock!**

The four boys gaped, well three of them did, Kai just looked a bit confused.

Eventually, the silence was broken.

"Skylor!" Coe gasped. "You're with THEM!"

"That's not my name!" The girl snapped. "But yes, yes I am." She smiled smugly.

"But, but we SAVED you from these guys! I mean, come on, that's not very grateful!" Jay said, scowling.

Garmadon laughed. "Saved her? I think you mean, took a spy into your headquarters."

"But if this were not the real Skylor Chen," Zane said with a frown that no one could see because of the dark. "Then wouldn't one of the older members of Elemental Force noticed, and put a stop to this scheme?"

"Idiot." Skylor, or rather, Harumi scoffed. "I AM the real Skylor Chen, or used to be. Until I joined the Skulkins age eleven to get my revenge on Elemental Force."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Kai, having caught up on the situation, exclaimed. "Revenge? Elemental Force freaking saved your life back at the Chen event! These dweebs," He pointed at Garmadon with his head. "Were going to kill you."

A hard, cold laugh came. But it wasn't from Harumi.

Garmadon laughed, shaking his head. "Is that SERIOUSLY what my brother told you? That we were the ones that kidnapped her and were going to kill her?"

An awkward pause his the prisoners.

"Well, yeah." Jay said after a while. Harumi scoffed angrily.

"I was THERE! I know what happened better than anyone! And I can tell you with certainty that Elemental Force lied!"

...

"No sign." Wu said with a sigh, placing down the binoculars. "Not that we can make a proper search, what with just three injured bodies."

"Yeah, if only we still had Ronin." Griffin sighed, drumming his hands anxiously against the arm of his chair. But Ronin had disappeared about a week ago, decided to run rather than fight for his apartment.

"Well I think this settles it." Dareth stood, looking incredibly serious for once.

"What?"

"We have to leave this place, now. If there really is a traitor in our midst, then the Skulkin, or the police, will be on our tails. We need to get out of here, before we too are captured."

"At least we have some leverage on them." Griffin muttered. "Unlike last time they invaded our apartment headquarters."

The three of them looked sincerely at each other, then went around grabbing supplies. In just under two minutes, they were ready to go.

"Out the back way." Dareth muttered in a low tone, taking the lead. He went over to the window that lead to the fire escape and carefully drew it open, sticking his head out. He withdrew quickly.

"There are Skulkin by the stairs, just arriving. They know we're here. They'll be coming after us from the stairs in a second."

Wu swore, then frowned in thought.

"The bathroom window. It doesn't lead to the direction of either of the building's exits. If we can get rope, we can make our way down through there."

"Sounds risky." Griffin muttered.

"What choice do we have?"

"Point taken." Griffin removed a coil of rope from his bag. "Will this be enough?"

"It'll have to be." Dareth said, going into the bathroom and opening the window. "And besides, we're only on the third floor." He took the rope and, after a moment's thought, tied it tightly around the knob on the door.

There came a knock at the apartment's main door.

"POLICE! OPEN UP!"

Griffin darted to the bathroom door and locked it quietly. He then turned to Dareth, who motioned that he should go first. Griffin motioned that, with his bad leg, he's just be too slow. Dareth motioned that he was younger than the rest of them and would be more agile. Griffin began to motion an argument, when Wu butted in and motioned that the Skulkin had just broken down the door and that they should all get an effing move on. Griffin sighed and climbed out of the window. Before he began to abseil down the building, however, Dareth took his hand and shook it. At first, Griffin didn't get it, but then he realised.

Dareth wasn't sure if they would all make it.

Griffin gave him a confident look that did not at all reflect how he felt, and jumped.

After what seemed like an eternity, his feet hit the ground in a mucky little alleyway that was down the side of the building. He froze at the noise he made and the pain it had caused his leg, but then recovered and looked for the others.

Wu saw that Griffin had made it, and then made a gesture that clearly meant, after you.

Dareth shook his head.

The Skulkins banged on the door.

"OPEN UP, we know you're in there!"

"Go!" Dareth snapped. "I'll hold them off."

"You're hurt!"

"So are you!"

"Yes, but, you're the leader!" Wu put a hand on his shoulder. "It's important you make it."

"Yes I am the leader. I make the decisions. And it is also my responsibility to make sure that my comrades and FRIENDS make it to safety!"

The lock rattled and the wood around the door splintered.

"We're running out of time!" Wu snapped. "Just GO!"

The door was forced open. The rope was wrenched out of reach.

"Or a better idea." Dareth took a pistol out of his bag and Wu grabbed a knife from his belt. "We go down together, as friends."

"I like that plan." Wu said with a grin, as young muscular Skulkin advanced upon the two older men.

...

"Lied?!" Zane exclaimed. "What do you mean, lied?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Harumi snarled. "Sometimes you guys forget that Elemental Force are still criminals. THEY were the ones that kidnapped me as a child and held me for ransom. THEY were the ones who decided I had to go! And The SKULKIN were the ones to burst in and save me. Of course, after the battle, they kidnapped me too, but my membership was all it took to earn my freedom. All the while my father pretended that I was home safe for the next decade. Elemental Force were the ones who were going to kill me! They are the bad guys and they are the ones I hate. I changed my name, changed myself so they would never find me. And when the opportunity came for me to pretend to be working for them to gain information, well, I just jumped at the chance."

She smiled smugly at the four stupefied boys in front of her. The four of them were just paralysed in shock, trying to figure out if Harumi was lying of if...

If Elemental Force had been.

"No." The single word came from the mouth of Kai Smith, breaking the silence.

"Yes." Harumi said with a scowl. "Elemental Force-"

"I don't care!" Kai snapped. "But the Skulkins are villains too! They kidnapped my sister, AND my parents, I've seen them! You stole a life of happiness from me, and left me with a life in ruins! So don't pretend that you guys are above this all, because you AREN'T! YOU MURDERERS!" He thrashed violently against his restraints, gnashing his teeth angrily.

"But Kai... Wu LIED!" Jay said in a small voice. "He made us think that they were the victims, making us feel sorry for them! But they were going to do that to a girl-"

"It's a criminal gang, Jay, you idiot!" Kai snapped. "Of COURSE they do bad things! You think the enemies of the people who killed your sister would be on your side, but there are no sides! There's just a whole bunch of people doing bad stuff!"

"Yeah, but what about us? Aren't we on your side?"

"Guys!" Cole snapped, breaking up the argument. "There's no need to fight about this. It won't make anything better." He turned to Garmadon. "I assume you have plans for us? You didn't just bring us here to gloat?"

"Oh I have plans alright." Garmadon said with a grin. "But right now, I think we'll leave you to prepare yourselves. Just remember though..." He went right up to Cole's face. "Whatever you imagine your death to be, I will make sure it is ten times as horrible for the trouble you four have caused."

And with one last gloating smile from the pair of them, the two Skulkins disappeared.

...

Wu wiped his bloody hands on his trousers and kicked the dead Skulkin in the head. It had been a fair and furious fight, but there was now only one winner. The bathroom was destroyed and the enemy was dead. Dareth and his opponent had moved off to a different area of the house, Wu could hear the crashes from a different room. Although he was exhausted, he grabbed the dead man's gun, checked for bullets, saw that there were none and dropped it again, and ran off to help.

Dareth was pinned to the wall by his opponent, who was slowly choking him. Reaching out desperately, he grabbed a small painting with a wooden and glass frame from the wall and smashed it over his opponent's head. The man stumbled back, and Dareth was dropped to the ground. Rubbing his neck, he stood.

"OK, now you've made me mad." He snapped, and leapt onto the bed, jumping towards the man, kicking him in the face from above and landing next to him. He ducked a punch, grabbed the guy's arm, twisted it, tripped him up with his left foot and felt the arm crack and break in his grasp.

"You bastard!" The guy snapped, hitting the floor hard. Dareth let his arm go and searched the room with his eyes for a weapon. His gaze fell upon a metal tray next to the bed, and darted around his fallen opponent, grabbing the tray. As the man stood up, Dareth brought it down onto his head, smashing it over his skull. The guy fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Well done." Wu said, entering the room. "I was just coming to assist."

Dareth laughed. "As if I need assistance." He looked out of the window. The Skulkin's guarding the fire escape had all run off, probably coming up to the apartment to help.

"Shall we?" Wu said. "Leader?"

"I think we shall." The pair climbed out of the window and started to edge their way down the stairs. When they had reached the second floor down, however, Dareth put his hand out to stop Wu.

"Listen." He whispered. Wu listened. There were muffled whispers coming from the floor below them. Of course! Those sneaky Skulkin had laid a trap for them!

"You go down the steps and surprise them, distract them." Dareth whispered in his ear. Wu nodded.

"And you?"

"I'll climb round the side." Wu nodded, and ran down the last few steps, going in yelling. The Skulkins were so surprised that they couldn't lay a finger on him. Dareth leapt off the upper balcony and slid down the pole connecting the fire escape's many floors. He landed behind the Skulkin and took one down immediately with his feet. In thirty seconds, he and Wu had destroyed the enemy and continued down the fire escape.

"Where did Griffin get to?" Wu wondered aloud as the pair entered the alley below the bathroom window. Before Dareth could answer, they heard someone clear their throat from behind them. It was Griffin, leaning out of a small doorway in the opposite building.

"Psst, in here!"

"About time!" Wu muttered, and the pair darted inside.


	30. The Elemental Tasers

**OK, this is earlier than expected, but since this story is only a few chapters away from completion, I have decided to upload more regularly in order to get it finished so I can move onto other projects. If anyone has an interest in Ducktales (2017 reboot) or Steven Universe, then you can have a look for the stories I will be posting for those fandoms after this one is finished. But don't think I'm desperate to get this over with, it's my first ever proper AU fic and it's been quite a ride pleasant writing it :)**

 **Zach Greenwood: Yes, yes I can.**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: Did he? If he did, I did not notice! (that's quite embarrassing) :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yep, they are criminals after all! It's quite a fight! Thanks, as always :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Yeah, it's easy for me to forget too, but that is a reveal I have been planning since the beginning! Hehe, I thought it would do that, I was actually trying to think of a chapter title for it, but couldn't, so I just went with a more relatable one for the Dareth fans out there :)**

 **Cerenda: Yeah, I guessed some people would think that, but I prefer the idea of them being the same person, because they had a similar story when they first met their love interests, only Skylor changed herself for Kai, and Harumi died. And Kai, yeah, Kai is too riled up to accept defeat right now, as you'll see in this chapter. Hehe, yeah I really liked writing that bit, my version of Dareth is just as the chapter title states.**

The place that Wu and Dareth had entered wasn't fancy, but it seemed safe for now. A dirty and unused kitchen with a dripping tap and mould growing on the ceiling. Griffin shut and locked the door behind then and gestured them through a doorway to a living room. Two figures were already seated there. One Wu didn't recognise. The other...

"Ronin!" Wu gasped. "Is this where you've been hiding all this time?"

"Well, you guys did take over my place." Ronin said grumpily. "But most of that time I've been held captive by or running from the Skulkin. Those idiots seemed pretty desperate to stop me from giving you the message I have to get to you guys."

"And what was said message?" Dareth asked, seating himself in an armchair.

Ronin grinned. "Kai's alive."

For a moment, no one moved. Then Wu also took a seat.

"Alive?!" Dareth exclaimed. "How can he be alive?"

Ronin shrugged. "The Skulkin probably bribed the papers to put that. But they have him as a prisoner in their base, which I managed to escape from, by the way (Wu rolled his eyes). He helped me escape and told me to take that message back to you guys, but I've been trying to make the Skulkin lose my tail for about five days now. Eventually, I ran into this guy and set up shop here."

Ronin gestured to the stranger on the couch. He was tall, taller than Wu, but not as tall as Griffin, and so probably young, in his twenties. But apart from height, it was almost impossible to tell what he looked like, because of a thick scarf winding it's way around his lower face, shades covering his eyes and a broad brimmed hat casting a shadow over his face. He wore thick and baggy clothing that gave his frame a shapeless appearance. Altogether, he was definitely a man with a mystery.

"Who the heck are you?" Wu demanded.

"Call me Mr Pale." The guy said in a low tone.

"I'll call you whatever the hell I want." Wu snapped. "But who are you and what are you doing here?"

"This is my place." Mr Pale said simply. "Well, my backup place. I don't want no gang members in my house."

"So he dislikes us." Dareth said with an observant nod. "Yet he's playing host."

Mr Pale ignored him. "I presume Mr Shade told you about me. I want to rid this city of gang crime and in order to do that, I'm afraid both gangs need to take a blow from which they will never recover."

"And Elemental Force has already had that." Ronin muttered. Wu growled.

"Watch it. I have a sharp knife in my back pocket that you DO NOT want to meet!" Ronin held up a hand in surrender.

"Calm down, just pointing out the facts!"

"Can I continue?" Mr Pale had a slightly angered tone, a tone that shot authority and cut up the argument immediately. Wu scowled, but let him go on.

"As I said, both gangs need to be hit hard. I'm sure you all hate the Skulkin as much as I do. So I'm sure we can work together on their takedown."

Wu frowned. On one hand, he did not trust this 'Mr Pale' bloke, and if he truly hated gangs as much as he implied, he could easily betray them. On the other, Wu hated Garmadon more than anything and would love to see the look on his face when his whole Skulkin world came crashing down around him, then Wu could give him the final blow and be free from his deadly grasp forever. And he could always betray Mr Pale first.

He glanced at Dareth and Griffin and read their faces easily.

"We're in." He said.

...

For the past three hours, the four boys had been stressing over their fate. Garmadon had promised them a grisly end and they were now fully at his mercy. He wasn't one to make a hollow threat.

At last the time came. The door opened to reveal a few grim looking Skulkin, who blindfolded them, untied them from the chairs, but kept their hands bound, the thick rope cutting into their wrists. They were marched down a long corridor, then through a door. Then they felt the ropes on their hands be cut.

"Take the blindfolds off." A Skulkin commanded, an ugly smile in his voice. The boys removed their blindfolds and squinted in the sudden light.

They were in a large and square shaped room, definitely one in the warehouse. There was a high walkway above their heads, and it was filled with grinning and laughing Skulkin, but some were beginning to hold their noses as an awful smell reached them.

Kai sniffed and turned to the source of the smell. It was Cole. He was coated from head to foot in a dry and foul smelling brown substance.

"Shit, what happened to you?" He gasped. Jay took one look and burst out laughing.

"Where were you looking for it? The sewer?"

"Yes." Cole said grimly. "Exactly that." Jay was about to laugh even more, when Zane's cold voice cut through their conversation.

"Guys, this isn't the time. Look alive!" He pointed to the laughing gang above them, who all seemed to be looking forward to the massacre of four teenagers.

Kai took this chance to observe his teammates. Not a lot had changed, Zane was wrapped in his ridiculous coat, Cole was coated in shit and Jay seemed a little taller. He wasn't sure about himself, a few bruises maybe.

He noticed Jay staring at him.

"What?" He said stiffly.

"I just can't get over the fact that you're alive!" He said with a grin. "Man, Nya's gonna be so pleased!"

Nya. Kai had almost forgotten about her. His sister. He longed to see her again, but right now, it didn't look like he'd get the chance.

"Elemental Force!" They heard a voice yell, it sounded like Garmadon. "You may have bested us in many a fight, but now you have to best all of our strongest. We challenge you to a fight to the death!"

The boys winced. Then they saw every gang member hold up a gun and point it right at their heads.

"Either accept or die immediately!"

"We'll do it!" Jay yelled. Everyone glared at him.

"Are you INSANE!" Zane gasped.

Jay shrugged. "They'll wipe us out if we refuse. In combat, we have a chance."

Cole sighed. "He's right guys. We may as well live as long as we can."

Kai nodded, and Zane too. The four of them turned to Garmadon.

"BRING IT!" They yelled with a steady confidence. The Skulkin (after a nod of approval from Garmadon) put their guns away.

"Very well." Garmadon gave a grin, and a gesture. A door behind the kids opened and they watched in horror as their doom entered.

Five huge vicious and muscular Skulkin, two of which held snarling dogs on chains, who were growling and snapping. And the fifth didn't really need a dog, because he was none other than Samukai.

"Shit." The boys all said at once.

"I assume you've heard tales of gladiators and lions!" Garmadon called down. "We're the audience. They're the lions. And you... well you're not even fit to be called gladiators. I'd say-" He grinned nastily. "The meat."

The boys looked at the five muscular and evil seeming men before them, the dogs, their weapons...

They knew they were toast.

Jay obviously knew this, but began hopping from one foot to the other.

"Come on guys! If I'm gonna go down, gonna go down fighting!"

"Jay no-" Cole tried to grab him, but he had already ran forward towards Samukai, fists raised.

"You're gonna pay for what you did to my sister, you fat creep-" Samukai raised a large fist in a split second and it collided with Jay's face, sending him shooting back to his starting point, face down on the floor.

"Ow." Jay groaned. Cole growled.

"OK, game ON, assholes!" He went for a direct attack against the weakest looking skulkin, a young and skinny man with abnormally large feet, raising his hand for a punch, but was immediately seized around the neck, and the Skulkin went in for a vicious jab to the ribs before chucking Cole across the room so he landed on top of Jay.

"Are you OK?" Kai asked anxiously. Cole gave a small nod, rolled of Jay, but didn't get up. Kai's hands curled into fists.

"Oh you just crossed a line!" He snarled. Before Zane could stop him, he ran at Cole's attacker. But before he got within attacking distance, he changed direction and leapt through the air, his foot colliding with a different man's face. He stumbled backwards, spiting out a few teeth. Kai laughed, but was caught from behind before he landed on the floor.

"Enough of that." Samukai muttered in his ear, then slammed him to the ground, face first. Kai gave a moan, and a yelp as he was kicked in the back, sending him sprawling next to his fallen comrades.

Zane gasped, and looked at his five opponents with fear.

"Come on!" One of the Skulkin taunted him, ratting his dog chain while the beast snapped. "Don't be scared of these. They're just to get rid of your bodies." The whole audience laughed. Zane scowled. But he knew he would end up on the floor eventually. May as well go down like a man.

Zane charged, and within three seconds he was lying next to Jay, massauging his neck. The four boys slowly rose to their feet, helping each other up.

"You guys OK?" Cole wheezed.

"I think he broke my nose." Jay said, his voice muffled, his nose dripping blood.

"And a few ribs." Kai rubbed his ribcage with a wince. Zane rubbed his neck.

"We can't delay death forever." He said. "Even if we take down this lot, we're going to get shot the shit out of us. We're done for."

"We can still fight!" Jay snapped, digging in his jacket pocket for something. "I have this to use as a weapon!" He held a golden type necklace with a heavy looking oval shape on the end of a long, thick chain, and a small blue stud was on the other end of the chain.

Kai's eyes widened. "Where did you get that?" He asked, and dug in his own pocket. He brought out the necklace that had caused all this trouble, the one that supposedly contained the map to the Elemental Tasers.

The two were identical. Only Kai's had a red stud.

"I, I found it on the top of Borg Industries... where the Elemental Taser was supposed to be!" Jay's eyes widened. "You, you don't think..."

"It wasn't a map." Kai whispered, stroking the necklace. "It was a weapon."

"That doesn't look like a weapon." Cole commented. "It looks like jewellery and, HOW LONG HAS THERE BEEN A RAT IN MY POCKET?!" He jumped, seizing the creature that had just woken up.

"Cole, look!" Zane pointed. The rat had a black plastic bag tied to it's tail. Cole gasped and ripped the bag open.

Another necklace. With a black stud.

"Oh the CLEVER bastards!" He exclaimed. "Tying it to a RAT! That is devious!"

Everyone looked at Zane.

"What?" Zane stuck his hands in the pockets of his coat. "It's not like I- oh!" From the pocket of his coat, he withdrew a bag identical to Cole's.

"OK, this has got to be a sign that destiny's on out side!" Cole gasped. "WE HAVE THE FREAKIN-" Jay covered his mouth.

"Not so loud!" He grinned. "So, these are weapons, right? How do we turn them on?"

"No time!" Kai gasped suddenly, as one of the Skulkins seemed to have gotten bored waiting for them to attack again, and charged with a large, blunt knife in his hand. The boys ducked, but flashed each other grins.

"Let's do this!" Jay cried.

The boys rolled across the floor, Zane ditching his coat. Three of them were now revealed to have their Elemental Force jackets, which riled the crowd.

"Kill them!" Came shouts. The four teens grinned and simultaneously swirled their Elemental Tasers like nunchucks. As the four Skulkin came charging at them, the boys raised their Tasers.

"In your face Garmadon!" Kai yelled, spitting on the floor.

Then something incredible happened. Kai's Taser lit up like a firework until it was a burning ball of flame. as he swung it, it collided with the Skulkin's face, and his face instantly caught fire.

He screamed, stumbling back, but it was too late. Within seconds, he was nothing but a charred corpse.

Gasps ran through the room.

"Shit!" Cole gasped. "How, how did you turn it on?"

"I just yelled..." Kai gasped. "I yelled his son's name. He programmed them to respond to his kid's names! Now THAT is adorable!"

"And ironic." Zane added. "Since he was trying to kill them along with their livelihoods."

Garmadon heard every word of this conversation, his fists curling. Hr gripped the rail in front of him with anger

"KILL THEM!" He screamed at the Skulkin down below.

"Oh no you don't!" Jay yelled, and gripped the chain of his Taser. "WU!"

A bolt of lightning shot out of the stud at the end, hitting his opponent in the chest. He screamed and flew backwards, landing dead on the floor. "Oh yeah! Lightning powers!"

The Skulkin looked a little unsure now. Cole and Zane took advantage of their opponent's uncertainty, charging forwards, yelling the names of their mentor/enemy.

Zane's Taser spat a cloud of white swirling white cloud his opponent's face. He stumbled backwards, frost covering his face, turning it blue, freezing his breath.

"Some sort of super modified liquid nitrogen!" Zane gasped. "Oh this guy was SMART, it was an honour to wear his coat!"

Cole's Taser was the strangest of all. It lit up strangely and seemed to grow until it was three times the original size. It smacked the Skulkin in the face with the force of a cannonball, smashing into his skull. Cole panted as the Taser reduced itself to it's original size.

"A weapon fit for the strongest member of the team!" He laughed. The four of them turned to Samukai.

"You want to go up against the greatest weapons ever to exist?" Kai taunted. The other Skulkin either told him he was going to die, or that they were only kids.

He looked to Garmadon, who was on the verge of a volcanic eruption of anger. He gave a nod. Samukai flexed his fingers and brought out a large and heavy looking axe as the dogs went wild, sniffing at their owners dead bodies.

"You kids are DONE for!" He growled, and charged.

The four Elemental Force members raised their weapons.

"It's what Wu would have wanted." Kai said, loud enough for Garmadon to hear.

The Tasers exploded.

So did Samukai.

 **And there you have it. The big reveal :)**


	31. The Greatest Showdown

**CHEESEPUFF fg: Yeah, she did. And as for the rest, I've already given you an answer :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yeah, that was the angle I was going for, little hints here and there. Thanks :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: No, it's metaphorical explosion, like they all lit up with and blew Samukai to bits. But they're still intact. Yeah, I'll make that happen. He sure needs it! :)**

 **Cerenda: Yeah, he's not the most trustworthy guy, but this fic's version is going to be a little different... Can't say much more than that right now, you'll find out. Thanks, I liked writing that, especially since I've been planning it for ages. And metaphors to the actual Golden Weapons. I tried to make them as similar as possible to how they are in the show, only different structure as weapons. Oh cool, it's great isn't it! If you want to read it, yeah that would be nice :) Thanks.**

"Shade?" Nya heard Chamille's voice call softly through the darkness? "How are you doing?"

"No worse, no better." Shade grunted. Apparently, he, Chamille and Cole had fought the Skulkin upon their capture and Shade had been wounded. Nya had been cooped up in this room, chained to the wall, for about five hours now, limbs cramped, worried for the safety of Jay and the others. Since Shade, Chamille and Tox were all here, it was obvious that everyone's missions had been compromised.

"Guys, I think I hear someone coming." Tox called from the other side of the room. Nya shrank back against the wall, worried this new arrival might spell the end for her, not very hopeful about her situation.

There came a scuffling sound from the other side of the door. Nya frowned. That was odd. This person was picking the lock. The Skulkin would have a key, unless it was...

The door flew open, light flooding into the room. It opened on Griffin, upright, hardly showing that his leg was bad, Elemental Force Jacket wrapped around his torso like a soldier's uniform.

"Griffin!" Chamille gasped in delight. Griffin winked at her.

"There you guys are. Wu's starting to get impatient." He tapped the radio at his belt. Coming in, he shut the door behind him, turning on a torch.

"Nya, hold this while I open the lock on your chains." He commanded. Nya did as she was told and was free in a matter of seconds. Griffin quickly freed the others, taking special care when he saw Shade's condition.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly.

"Seen better days." Shade grunted. "But it's nice to see you." He took his hand and Griffin helped him up.

"Come on guys." Griffin said with a sly smile. "The leaders are waiting. Who's ready to kick some Skulkin butt?"

Nya thought about the enemy. They kidnapped her twice, did this to her friends, killed her brother...

"You bet I am!" She said with a grin. "I'll make them pay for what they did to Kai!"

Griffin looked uncomfortable. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. Nya, Kai's alive."

...

Ronin was glad to be able to enter the police building again safely, after last time. He waved to the cute woman behind the desk, shook hands with the new janitor and boldly knocked on Misako Gordon's door.

"Ronin?" Misako seemed surprised to see him. "Where have you been! Did you complete the mission? I've been trying to get in contact with you for-"

"I was a hostage of first, Elemental Force, could have told me the guy you sent me after was their leader! Then the Skulkin, who managed to intercept this very BUILDING! Then I've been on the run from everyone, trying to find safety and eventually made my way back here!"

"I didn't ask for your life story!"

"So I won't tell you the very exciting and useful news I've brought?" Ronin gave a sly smile. Misako sighed.

"Fine. What did you come to tell me?"

"I know where the Skulkin are hiding." Misako's eyes widened.

"How do you know they haven't moved on by now?"

"They have hostages. Elemental Force, or what's left of it, have already gone to rescue their members. Shouldn't take more than a day. Then the police force can swoop in and-"

"So Elemental Force and the Skulkin will all be in one place at the same time?" Misako smiled. "Why wait? I'll give the orders for the troops to nab the lot of them! And get my revenge on Wu myself!" She grinned and turned to Ronin. "Where?"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Ronin held up a hand. "This wasn't in the deal!"

"What deal?"

"I said, after they rescued their hostages, the police then come for the Skulkin and the lot of them go to jail, while EF gets themselves out of the gang life!"

"Too bad." Misako came up to Ronin in one simple stride. "Here's out deal, Ronin. You tell me right now where they are hiding and I tell you where your kids are. I'll give you a clean slate, Starlock. Or we go back to the way things have been for years."

Ronin bit his lip. He wanted to see his kids again, more than anything. But Wu would kill him! No, no he'd be dead or in jail.

Ronin sighed and stepped around Misako, picking up a dart from her desk and chucked it towards her map of the city that was on the wall opposite the big window. It it the point exactly.

"There." He said, defeated. "You'll find them there."

...

The reaction to the Elemental Tasers disintegrating Samukai was... varied. Kai's mouth dropped open, Jay and Zane covered their eyes, Cole took a few steps back, looking disgusted.

The crowd's reactions were similar. People were shocked, disgusted, scared. Looking to Garmadon for orders.

Garmadon's fists clenched, his brow furrowed in fury. A low growl sounded in his throat.

"KILL THEM!" He screamed. "And destroy those weapons!"

The Skulkin nodded and opened fire.

The four Elemental Force teenagers looked at each other nervously, then grabbed their weapons. But there were so many guns pointed their way, and they had no idea how much fuel these weapons contained.

It seemed that this time, they truly were toast.

"It's been an honour." Zane said timidly, and the others nodded in agreement.

Just as the first bullets were about to be fired, and the boys were flinching, waiting for the impact, there came a shout from the walkway above. Before anyone could react, all that was left of Elemental Force burst through the doors and started ramming the Skulkin into the ground, by bullets, blades and themselves.

"Boys!" They heard Dareth yell from somewhere above. "Get out!"

The four of them looked at each other for confirmation.

"Should we leave or join in the fun?" Cole asked with a small smile.

"Hmm..." Jay pretended to consider, and they all swung their Tasers around.

"Let's GO!" Kai yelled and the four of them ran to a ladder leading to the already crammed walkway. They swung themselves up there and immediately rammed into the fight.

"What did I just tell you?" Dareth exclaimed as Kai took down his opponent with a single strong punch.

"Forget that! We're Elemental Force! We'll defeat them as a team!"

Dareth gave a small grin and shot someone over his shoulder.

"Then get ready for the storm."

Kai gripped his Taser with a lazy, confident grin.

"I am the storm!"

...

Half an hour of pure chaos later, the Skulkin had been slowly, but steadily, defeated. But Garmadon had vanished and worse still, police sirens were surrounding the building. Kai, Jay, Zane, Cole, Wu and Dareth were in a corridor that was near the main exit.

"Dammit Ronin!" Wu cried as soon as he heard. "You were supposed to wait two hours!"

"What now?" Cole asked, exhausted. They were all exhausted, not just from the battle, but from the sheer stress of the past couple of months. They just wanted out.

"We'll be surrounded, so we'll pick the least obvious exit." Dareth commanded. "Round the back, I saw a fire escape. The others are waiting a couple of blocks away to pick us up."

"What others?" Zane asked.

"You know, Shade, Tox, Chamille... we'll meet them there, and unless Pale gets arrested, he'll be able to get us out of this city."

Jay looked like he was about to ask a question, but footsteps none of them had noticed before rounded the corridor, and a flashlight was shone at them through the dark.

"Hands in the air!" A burly police officer commanded, holding a large gun, dressed in full bullet proof Kevlar.

"RUN!" Wu yelled, and the group scattered.

 **I was gonna write more for this chapter, but I'm tired and it's been long enough in my opinion. So yeah, next chapter coming up soon, probably. Hope you enjoyed :)**


	32. Threeway Shootout

**Guest: Yeah, OK :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: Yeah, it was. I wanted to sneak one in there :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yep, not one of his smartest moves. Thanks, as always :)**

 **MasterofCupcakes: She probably will. And Cole will get his shower! :)**

 **Cerenda: No, he's not the most tactful guy on the planet, but we'll get to see a cute reunion soon! Oh there will be more Misako this chapter! A lot more than you ever asked for! hehe. Yeah, that is my favourite thing Donald has ever said and I just had to use it somewhere! Well, wait no longer, here it is! :)**

The building was flooded with police, most of them only with Tasers, but a few had guns. The group tried to stick together, but it was proving to be a difficult task, with so many turns and hiding spots they had to dive into to avoid the cops.

Cole and Jay ended up together. So did Zane and Dareth. Kai and Wu both were alone.

"Window!" Jay exclaimed as the pair ran down a long corridor. Cole stopped and looked up at the plastic window that was situated about six feet off the ground.

"Where does it lead?"

Jay pointed to the view of the night sky that they could see through the rectangle.

"Out. And there's no red and blue sirens. It's probably being watched, but if we come out firing, we can get away."

Cole smiled. "Pretty smart for a loud mouth, Jay."

"I try." His friend smiled modestly. Cole motioned for Jay to use him as a foothold, and gently boosted him into the air. Far away, but getting nearer, he could hear the sound of running feet and shouts.

"Hurry up and unlock it!" He whispered.

"There's no lock!"

"Then smash it!"

Jay took a deep breath and punched the window again and again, until the plastic splintered and he managed to create a window big enough for them to crawl through.

A policeman rounded the corner.

"Go go go!" Cole cried, brandishing his Taser. "I'll hold him off so that you can escape."

"No way!" Jay exclaimed, getting his own Taser out. "If we go down, we go down together!"

"OK, we can do this the hard way or the easy way. Drop the... weapons and come quietly, or do I have to take you by force?"

"Hmm." Jay muttered, pretending to think. "I think... option C."

"Huh?"

"This!" Cole yelled, and still with Jay balanced on top of him, leapt forwards, yelling the code word so their Tasers activated. The policeman gave a shout and darted out the way of a large bolt of lightning, only to have Cole's Taser smack him in the lower jaw.

"What the heck is that?" He gasped, clutching his injured mouth.

"A proposal." Cole said with a lethal grin. "You are going to let us escape through this window, or we are going to strangle you with your own intestines."

The man gasped and backed away.

"Just kidding." Cole chuckled. "We'll just knock you out and tie you up so your superior officer can know that you were defeated by two kids."

"Yeah, and with your underpants on your head!" Jay cheered, and the policeman backed away.

Jay scrambled through the window, and pulled Cole up so they fell out the other side and landed in a few trashcans.

"Wow, I didn't even know you could make jokes!" Jay exclaimed. Cole grinned.

"I've been hanging out with you for the past two months, I pick up a thing or two."

The pair smiled at each other.

"Hello? Anyone there?" They heard a voice shout. The pair's smiles turned to fear. They gripped their weapons.

"Together?" Jay whispered.

"Together." Cole nodded.

...

A police officer leant against a wall fairly near the exit of the building. He was slightly overweight, and had been running around after these stupid Skulkin all evening. He felt he deserved a break.

The officer took out his radio and flicked through the different frequencies, listening to the conversations of the officers.

"These kids are brutal! They threatened-"

"I've cornered one, but I need backup!"

"Jenny, come on babe. Go back out with me!"

"Now that sounds like a sad story." The officer stiffened. That voice didn't come from the radio.

He turned to see Dareth leaning against the wall next to him.

"Hello sunshine." He said with a cocky smile. Then the officer was knocked out with his own gun.

"Nice work." Dareth said with a grin. Zane pocketed the gun.

"Not one of my cleverest plans." He admitted.

"Cleverest I've seen in a while." Zane grinned modestly. Dareth took the radio.

"This is Officer-" Zane gestured to the guy's name badge. "Cunningham. I need urgent assistance round the back entrance."

"Be right there!" A voice crackled through. Dareth grinned.

"Front entrance is round the corner." Dareth said. "Give it a minute or so, then we'll go."

"Right." Zane nodded. The pair slowly inched towards the doors. There didn't seem to be anyone out there.

"Urgh..." Officer Cunningham gave a moan and sat up.

"Or we could go right now!" Zane took a step in that direction. Dareth nodded.

"Good plan."

The pair darted out and into the night.

...

"They're escaping Madam!" One of Misako's officers said, running up to her. "I think there's only a few of them left inside. I was chasing two of them, but they got away."

Misako sighed, an aggravated sigh. "I give you idiots ONE JOB!" She snapped, and turned to the building. "Fine. They want to run and hide? Some the out. officer."

"But Madam, that's, erm..." He stopped when be saw her face. "Right away." He saluted and left. Misako's brow narrowed.

"Your move, Wu."

"What are they DOING!" Griffin exclaimed, as the group watched from a nearby building. "They're going to set the place on fire!"

"We have to do something!" Chamille exclaimed. Mr Pale was watching silently as they struggled to make plans. Behind his shades, his eyes glinted with anger.

"No, I have to do something." He muttered. He stood up. "Stay here, all of you."

"What are you going to do?" Shade said accusingly, a hand pressed to his wound, already stained with blood. Nevertheless, he was doing what was right, trying to patch up Tox, who had been injured badly in the fight.

"Something I should have done a long time ago."

...

Kai was used to fire by now, he had been blasting it from his Taser all evening. But the stench of the smoke and the heat drifting through the plastered walls told him that this was too hot to handle. Slowly, he shifted himself out of his cramped position and stretched his legs, preparing to run and cut down any officer who tried to stop him.

The corridors were empty, however. Kai hurried through them, trying not to inhale too much smoke. He was nearly at main body of the warehouse, there were plenty of skylights up there, he remembered. He could escape through the roof.

As Kai arrived through, he found that he was not alone. Wu was there, and he wasn't alone either.

"Finally." Misako snarled, her gun held aloft, her plait curled around her shoulder. "We meet at last to resolve this."

Wu groaned. "Look Misako, it's been a long day, no, a long decade. Can't we let this go already! I did not take Lloyd! I cared about him just as much as you and Garmadon!"

"And where is my ex husband? Or did you kill him too!" Misako growled. "I loved him, despite everything, despite where I am now, I still love him."

A harsh, guttural laugh. "No you don't."

But that wasn't Wu's voice.

Garmadon revealed himself from the shadows, a gun in each hand. "Hello Misako. Always the liar. Hello brother. Always ANNOYNG!"

Wu took a deep breath. He was outnumbered, outgunned.

He leapt forwards, kicked Garmadon hard in the knee and managed to swipe a pistol. He raised it and the three of the stood, pointing their guns at each other.

"Well this is going to be tricky." Garmadon declared. It was a conundrum. If he shot Wu, he's have to turn around before he could shoot Misako, and by that time, she would have shot him. But this applied to everyone.

"Drop the weapons." Misako snapped.

"No." Wu replied. "You've tried to assassinate me, I'll drop it when you do!"

"I'm an officer, you're in a gang, you'd shoot me first." She adjusted the gun, aiming it a little more at Wu.

"And Garmadon would shoot us both."

"True, very true." The three adults stood there for a few more seconds, fingers on triggers, millimetres away from hurling a little lead ball of death. But at whom?

"Urgh, this is ridiculous!" Misako snapped. "I'm going to kill you both!"

"Go ahead." Wu snapped back. "I've gone on long enough. The rest of my gang are all safe, getting out of this life. My nephew is probably dead, just bones in a sewer from where HE RAN AWAY from us!"

"I don't believe you!" Garmadon yelled, and his gun was now entirely focused on Wu. If Misako wanted to shoot him, now was the time to do it.

"Go ahead!" Wu laughed, training his gun on Garmadon. "We are family, after all. How about we all die, all three of us, JUST LIKE WHAT WE DID TO LLOYD!"

"We?" Misako gasped. "WE!"

"Yeah, who abandoned him with his maniac father!" Wu snapped. "Who tried to force him into this shit stained life when he just wanted to be a normal kid!" He looked at the ground for a second. "Who couldn't help him when he needed it the most."

All three of them looked at the ground, all thinking about the one loss they had in common.

"If he were here, whose side would be on?" Misako muttered.

"His own." Wu said with a little smile. For a moment, the three of them shared the memory of the boy with a smile. Then the smiles were dropped and the guns were raised once more.

"Enough of this!" Wu's finger curled on the trigger.

"So be it!" Garmadon almost fired.

"STOP!" They stopped. They all stiffened. That voice, it was familiar, but they couldn't quite place it.

Mr Pale stood tall in the doorway, a gun in his own hand. Behind his shades, he eyes were narrowed.

"Oh great!" Garmadon snapped. "Another complication!"

Mr Pale grinned behind the scarf. "Really? That's probably what you said when I was born!"

The room stopped dead. Mr Pale took a step forwards. He removed the hat.

His hair was blonde.

He removed the scarf.

Down the side of his face, he had some horrible scars.

He removed the glasses.

His eyes were a vivid green, eyes that the three adults knew very well.

Garmadon dropped his gun.

"L, Lloyd?" He gasped.

Lloyd stood firm, staring down his mother, father and uncle. Misako looked shocked, Garmadon had a hand over his face, Wu just stared.

"It was you all along!" He whispered. "You were there, in plain sight, helping us all. You were hiding from me!"

"No shit." Lloyd held his own gun aloft, pointed in the general direction of the three. "I had to. Had to run that night, when everything went crazy. When mum wouldn't answer my calls. When Wu attacked us, knowing I was in that building too! When dad shoved a gun in my hands and told me to fight!"

Misako looked at Garmadon with an expression of pure shock and betrayal. Garmadon rubbed his face angrily and scooped up his gun again. No one could be bothered to stop him.

"I had to run because I knew I had no one I could count on. All of you abandoned me! All of you! I made a life for myself, helping people, not hurting them! I didn't need any of you, I did it DESPITE you! What right do you have to call yourselves my family!" Lloyd's hands shook, and tears ran down his face. "I only came back to save the innocents that Wu managed to rope in, like Kai. And where is he now? Probably dead somewhere in this fire that YOU CAUSED!"

"Lloyd-" Wu took a step forwards. Lloyd flipped the safety off his pistol.

"Don't move."

"Lloyd, we never meant for things to go like this! We just... we got caught up in our other lives, crime, fighting, fighting each other..." Wu glanced at the distraught Garmadon and the shocked Misako. "That's not an excuse, we know. We should have been there for you, should have valued you more than fighting each other, or smuggling weaponry, or terrorising innocents... we should have seen you for who you were."

"Yeah, you should have." Lloyd angrily wiped his eyes.

"He's right." Misako muttered, but there was anger in her voice, and she lifted her head. Her eyes were streaked with tears and flashing with anger. "I'm you're mother! How could you do this to me! I thought you were dead! What were we supposed to do except fight each other! You know what out lives were like, are like! How can you blame us for that?!"

"HOW CAN I BLAME YOU!" Lloyd shouted. "There is a literal and figurative fire raging around us, because of you! You just want to fight, not to help! You don't love me, you love another thing to fight Garmadon over!"

"Don't you dare-"

"Misako, calm down!" Garmadon took a step towards her. "He's right, he-"

"YOU CAN SHUT UP TOO!" Misako screamed at him. "I'm meant to be in charge here, not you, not him, not-"

Her gun hand turned so her gun was aimed right at Lloyd.

"Go ahead." The young man said with a lax smile. "We're surrounded by fire anyway. Might as well make it end sooner."

"Don't do it!" Wu cried.

Misako gave a scream of indecision, Wu lunged towards her, Garmadon lunged towards Wu and everyone in the room fired two shots.

Garmadon's first bullet missed completely, and almost hit Kai, who was still watching from the shadows, witnessing everything in shock.

His second bullet tore into Wu's stomach, and he gave a cry of pain.

Wu had fired at Misako, and had succeeded in shooting off her plait and cutting her neck a little, but nothing more. He had then twisted around and shot at Garmadon, hitting him in the leg. Garmadon was down, hissing in pain.

Lloyd had been shaking so badly he had missed completely and his bullets had embedded themselves somewhere in the far wall.

Misako had fired at two people, Wu and Lloyd. She had hit both targets.

Wu had two bullets in his abdomen and was also on the floor, clutching his wounds.

"Not again!" He groaned.

Lloyd clutched his shoulder, crying out in pain. Misako looked around her. Garmadon was tryng to stand and failing, Wu was on the verge of passing out and Lloyd...

Lloyd stared at her with a look of utter shock.

Kai had had enough.

With a burst of speed, he sprinted forwards and towards Wu.

"Kai?" The elder groaned. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping you." Kai said, helping him up so Wu leant on his shoulder.

"YOU!" Garmadon snarled. "You, I... YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME!" He managed to get on one foot and stumbled away, towards a door. Kai also stumbled towards a door, but it was the opposite one, the one where Lloyd was leant against the door. Kai extended a hand towards him.

"Are you coming, Nurse Green?" He asked with a small smile.

Lloyd looked at his mother. Then at the boy in front of him.

"Yes." He said, and took Kai's hand.

 **One more chapter to go!**


	33. Ninjas of Justice

**Last chapter! It makes me kinda sad to finish writing this fic actually, it's been great to write it and I have never go so many reviews! Thank you all so much! :)**

 **CHEESEPUFF fg: I didn't notice that reference, that's embarrassing! But I like that metaphor. Yeah, you did call that a few chapters earlier, clever :)**

 **RandomDragon2.0: Yeah, I saved the reunion for the end. Thanks, glad you enjoyed.**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Thanks, I've been planning that one for a while! But Lloyd's return was planned since the beginning. Yeah, I tried to give everyone a little moment in the limelight, but doing Cole and Jay together was just necessary :)**

 **Oh, and I have a little treat for you guys, over on my Instagram steampunkwilson I do fanart and art for my stories, and I have an image for this story that I'll post to celebrate it's completion. If you don't have Instagram or have trouble finding it, let me know and I'll send you a link (I'm having a spot of trouble finding one at the moment). Anyhow, enjoy :)**

Kai and Lloyd supported the injured Wu between them as they hurried out of the building. Fortunately, the fire brigade had arrived and the trio managed to slip away unnoticed.

"Where do you think he others are?" Kai asked Lloyd as they managed to slip around a corner and out of the police's line of sight. "Do you have a radio on you?"

"No, but he does." Kai gestured to Wu. Giving Lloyd a little more of the man's weight, he managed to slip the radio off Wu's belt and pressed the button.

"Hello? Anyone? This is Kai, I have Wu with me and..." Lloyd made a cut-throat gesture. "Erm, Mr Pale. They're both injured. Send someone to get us please."

"Kai?" A familiar voice crackled through the radio. Kai gasped and dropped Wu, and Lloyd stumbled to catch him. "Kai, is that you?"

"Nya?" Kai gasped. "NYA!"

"Read you loud and clear brother." Nya sounded like she was smiling. "We've got you in sight, coming by to pick you up."

"It's so good to hear you!" Kai sighed, filled with such happiness.

"Good to hear you too." Kai tucked the radio into his belt, grinning.

"Erm, little help?" Lloyd snapped.

"Oh, sorry." Kai took Wu again.

"Are they coming?" The young man asked. Kai nodded.

"Shouldn't be far away now." Kai told him. As if on cue, a roaring from down the street sounded and the pair turned to see three motorcycles heading their way.

"Hey guys!" Kai called as Jay and Cole drew up first.

"Whoa, you two look a mess!" Jay exclaimed. "Even more than Cole."

Cole still hadn't showered.

"Just help us out of here!" Lloyd said grumpily. The pair turned to him and their eyes widened.

"Is that..." Jay gasped.

"Pale, no it's..." Cole trailed off in shock.

"Yeah yeah, I'm back from the dead, let's move this along before my uncle bleeds out." Lloyd and Kai began to help Wu towards Cole's bike.

"Need a hand?" Kai stiffened and dropped Wu.

Nya was sat on the third bike.

"Sis?" Kai gasped, taking a step forwards.

"Kai." She said with that little knowing grin. Kai gave a yell of happiness and ran towards her, wrapping her in his arms.

"Nya! You're OK!"

"So are you! I thought you were dead!" The pair laughed and Kai sniffed a little.

"Are you crying?"

"No." Kai wiped his eyes. Nya laughed.

"You softie!"

"Shut up!" Kai laughed, and rubbed his sister's head fondly. "I'm so glad you're back!"

"Aww!" Jay wiped his eye. "Well, isn't that touching?"

Cole nodded. Nya pulled Kai into a tight hug. After a few seconds, she extended an arm towards the boys. Jay took her hand and was pulled into the hug. Cole grinned and wrapped his strong arms around the three of them.

Lloyd watched the scene with a sigh. He helped Wu onto the motorcycle and took one last look back at Kai, the boy who had changed, and quite possibly saved, his life.

He took a piece of paper from his pocket, jotted down a quick note and left it on the bike's seat.

He then turned and walked away.

The hug eventually separated and the four of them wiped their happy eyes.

"Come on." Cole said. "We need to get back to the others." He turned to his bike. "Hey, where did Pale go?"

Kai looked around. Was it his imagination, or did he see a shadowy figure slip into an alleyway down the street. Lloyd or not, he decided to let them go.

"It doesn't matter." He noticed a small slip of paper on Cole's bike seat and swiped it, shoving it into his pocket. He'd look at it later.

"Come on brother!" Nya called from her bike. "Are you coming?"

"Of course, but I'm riding front."

"I'm not a baby." Nya folded her arms. "I can handle-"

"Yeah I know." Kai gave her a smile. "But I haven't driven in ages and I really need to blow off steam here."

Nya sighed.

"Go on then." She shifted back a little so Kai could fit on. Kai grinned and took hold of the handlebars.

"Lead the way Cole!"

As the engine revved under him and his sister's arms wrapped around his waist, a grin spread over his face. He'd missed this.

"Woooohooo!" Kai yelled as the bikes sped towards safety.

...

Dawn was breaking over the city in a beautiful mash of pink and yellow streaks. Kai took a breath of the cold air, happy for once. It was almost over. Well, almost. There was still one more matter to attend to. While the gang was holed up in Kai's old apartment, tending to injuries and Cole was showering, Kai had slipped out.

The note Lloyd had left had been for him. It told him to come to the old High Street park at dawn. Dawn was breaking overhead and here Kai was, bright and early, shivering slightly inside one of his old hoodies.

Lloyd was waiting for him on a bench, a fedora on his head and a green fleece jacket wrapped around his shoulders. Kai sat silently next to him. They were silent for a good while.

"So you got your sister back." Lloyd said after a while. Kai nodded. "Are you returning to the life of crime?"

"No." Kai said at once. "It's more trouble than it's worth and, even though I've gotten to drive a motorbike an made some great friends, I'm glad that it's over now."

Lloyd nodded. "I am too. What about Wu? And everyone else?"

"I think they're done with this life too."

"No, I mean, has he mentioned me?" Lloyd asked slightly nervously. "Is he going to... look for me?"

"I don't think so. I think that encounter shook everyone. They're all going to be rethinking things for a long time."

Lloyd let out a long sigh, his breath curling into fog like a dragon's breath.

"Good. I'd like to stay away from them. Too many painful memories."

Kai nodded. "I know the feeling."

Lloyd looked towards Kai, his green eyes dark and mysterious as always, his scars seeming a little more vivid in the early morning sunlight.

"So what do you plan to do next?" He asked. Kai sighed.

"I don't know."

Lloyd smiled.

"No one ever does right now. I remember when I was twelve years old, my face had just been stitched up and I got told I could go home. I was in the hospital reception, walking towards the doors. Then I remembered, I didn't have a home to go to. All I had was the bloody shirt on my back and a dozen scars on my face. I had no idea what to do. I couldn't even trust my parents." Lloyd stopped.

"I don't even have them." Kai sighed. "They probably died in that fire."

Lloyd sighed again. "Were they in the cells to the West? With the pipes?"

Kai gasped. "Yes, yes they were! Why?"

"I tried to rescue the prisoners on my way towards my parents and Wu." Lloyd sighed.

"And?"

"And the cells were empty." Lloyd admitted. "I interrogated one of the few Skulkin left in the building. He said they'd sold all the prisoners to the vermillion gang a few hours earlier."

"No!" Kai gasped. He couldn't believe it, a few hours earlier he'd been so happy, but now his family had been separated once more."

"I'm sorry." Lloyd sighed. Kai's brow narrowed.

"I know what I'm going to do with my life." He said.

"And what's that?"

Kai told him, and a smile cracked across Lloyd's face.

"That's a good idea. Not even hiding from the gangs, facing them. I like it."

Lloyd stood up and stretched.

"You should probably go, before they notice you're gone."

"You're right." Kai sighed. He extended a hand. "I'll see you around, I guess."

Lloyd smiled and shook his hand.

"Don't be a stranger." He told him. "You're a good man, Kai Smith. You could probably use a doctor on your travels."

Kai smiled. "I guess I could."

...

For once, the city seemed peaceful. No police sirens sounded, no smoke curled to the sky. From the top of Kai's old apartment block, Wu, Kai, Cole, Zane, Jay and Nya sat watching the sun rise over the city. Wu had healed surprisingly quickly, he had been shot enough times to be a quick healer.

"Garmadon's still out there." Zane said eventually.

"Way to kill the mood, mate." Cole muttered.

"He's right." Wu sighed. "Garmadon will strike out with another gang attempt. And without Elemental Force, who will combat him?" It was true, what Wu said. Elemental Force had been truly torn apart, never to recover. Tox had died from her wounds. Dareth had let himself be arrested to help the others escape. He wouldn't be coming out of jail for another thirty years. Chamille had decided to leave the city for a place called Jamonicai Village to make sure her baby wouldn't be touched by the gang life. Kai hadn't bothered to warn her that this was unlikely to work. Shade and Griffin had also left, but in the opposite direction. Rather than head into the mountains, they were travelling to the desert to start their own business. An honest lifestyle. But where did that leave the rest of them.

Kai had kept his idea with him since he had said goodbye to Lloyd. But he couldn't do it alone.

"Us." He said. Everyone looked at him.

"What did you say?" Cole asked.

"Us." Kai said again. "We should really get out of the gang lifestyle, so how about we do the opposite? Help people in this city instead of hurting it."

"Soo, like vigilantes?" Jay asked. Kai nodded.

"Yeah, kinda."

"I like it!" Jay rubbed his hands together.

"It would be a way to do good in a city that has already been so hurt." Zane said.

"And we can use these for their original purpose!" Cole brought out the Elemental Taser that Wu had let him keep. Kai looked towards Nya.

"That's my brother." She smiled. "Always the fiery protector. I'm in."

The five kids looked at Wu, who sighed.

"Are you guys sure? I'm used to this violent lifestyle, but you guys have been involved for less than six months! Are you sure this is what you want?"

Kai nodded. "I want to help fix the damage we've caused."

"And I want to stay with my brother." Nya said, taking his hand.

"What better way to avenge my sister than fighting crime?" Jay took Nya's other hand. Kai felt slightly enraged, but decided to let it go just this once. After all, Jay was his friend."

"And we need someone to demonstrate the strengths of justice!" Cole punched the air.

"And the police aren't being very smart about it, so I guess this is our job." Zane smiled. Wu smiled back.

"Well then, I guess our team will need a name."

"Not Elemental Force, as cool as it sounds." Jay said quickly.

"Black Justice!" Cole held his Taser in the air. He lowered it quickly when he got a few strange looks. "What? We're gonna be like superheros, hiding in the shadows and stuff."

"I like that." Zane said. "The justice part, I mean."

"Black strikes fear." Nya told Cole. "And we're meant to help people."

"So what? The butterflies of justice? The candy canes of justice? The little bunny rabbits of justice?"

"Sounds good to me." Jay chuckled. Wu frowned.

"Do you guys know the legend of the ninja?"

His eyes swept over their blank faces. "Guessing not then."

"What is it?" Zane asked.

"Well, long ago, there used to be ninja that protected the city from crime and conspiracy plots and the like. Kind of like vigilantes or superheros. The townspeople loved them, criminals feared them. If we could dress ourselves like they did, we could probably convince some idiots down there that we're the ninja come back. After all, there was six of them.

"And we could always use a doctor on our travels." Kai muttered.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing." Kai stood up. "I agree, this is a great name!" He extended a hand to his sister, who accepted it, and he pulled her to her feet. She helped Jay up, he helped Cole up and Cole helped Zane, who helped Wu. The six of them approached the edge of the rooftop where the sun had reached it's peak.

"Look out Ninjago city!" Jay yelled. "The ninja of justice are here to protect you now!"

Only person heard this shout. Lloyd smiled to himself. He had used to play at being a ninja when he was little. He knew exactly what they would shout next.

"GO NINJA GO!" Shouted six people, and whispered another.

 **Soo yeah, it veers kind of towards the actual show a little towards the end, but I like it that way. They abandon their lives of crime to fight it, and perhaps Lloyd could help them along the way, even if he refuses to be part of the group. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it, and it's probably been one of my longest running stories, since I dreamed up this idea while I was working back in March (I think). Anyhow, enjoy the story, if you want to check out any more of my Ninjago works, feel free, though I probably won't be posting anything new Ninjago for a while, but I have ideas for future works further along the line. Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing, and I jope you've enjoyed it :)**


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